Holiness and Humor

So, today over scrambled eggs I was talking with Nat about being a good boy. He was telling me that he’s so smart and trying to get me to agree with him about how smart he is. So, we had a discussion about how yes he is very smart but being smart is less important than what you do with your intelligence.

We talked about the difference between being good and being holy, and about how when people see him they either learn good things or bad things about him and about God. So, when you are kind and loving, what you do tells people that you are a good person but also that the God you worship, the God who made you is also kind, loving and good. Telling the truth about God in what you do is called “holiness,” and behaving yourself is only part of holiness. Sometimes it is hard to be holy and sometimes we will screw up, but the alternative is having our actions say things that aren’t true about ourselves and about God so we work to be holy even when it’s hard. I could tell he was really listening and thinking about what we were talking about, with those wheels turning in his head.

So, maybe 20 minutes later when I was making granola, Nat came in with a big smile on his face like he frequently has.

“Mommy, you’re so nice and you’re the best mommy ever.” *pause and huge grin* “You’re so… holy.”

I thanked him and gave him a hug because he’s such a sweetheart. I’m working on it, Nat. I’m working on it.