Spirituality

I'm finding it difficult to explain spirituality to my children.  I struggle to find the words that express the spiritual imagination required to understand God (at least as much as is possible), in ways that they understand.  Last night, they asked me if magic was "real".  I told them no.  Then they asked how God was able to do such amazing things, if there was no magic.  After struggling for a moment, I told them that God had "power" and that was different than our understanding of "magic",but yes, I guess you could say that God almost seemed "magic".  They wanted to know where Jesus lived.  I told them Heaven.  Quinn said "No, Mom, is it like on the other side of the world?"  and Colby said "Like, do you go to Bethlehem, and then straight up?"  They were getting frustrated by my answers, because I wasn't addressing their questions in ways they could understand.  I told them Heaven wasn't a definitive place, it wasn't on Earth, you couldn't find it on a map.  People used to imagine it was up in the sky, but that's not exactly right, either.  WHERE was Heaven?  Colby finally said "I know, Mom.  It's on a really thick cloud."  OK, I told him.  Heaven's on a thick cloud.  I just have such a dificult time explaining something so "ethereal" to my children who are so concrete. 

I want to encourage imagination in my children, but also find that they are so concrete, that they WANT to know what is real and what isn't, and I answer them truthfully.  "Are vampires real?" No.  "Are monsters real?" No.  "Are fairies for real?" No.  "Except for the tooth fairy, right mom?"  Uhhhhh.  I want them to believe in the POSSIBLE, because that's where God begins to take hold in a concrete mind.  I want them to think beyond the here and now, beyond what they see around them.  I want them to believe that maybe, just maybe, things can happen outside what our senses are telling us, but how do I instill that in them?  And still remain truthful?

I was reading First Corinthians this morning, and Paul was talking about our resurrection - about how our earthly bodies are just seeds for the heavenly bodies we will one day have.  From corruptible, dishonorable and weak, to incorruptible, glorious, and powerful.  Maybe this is just the analogy I need - especially now at this "harvest" time of year, where my children have seen our garden grow from a seed placed in dirt to something much different, fuller, beautiful, and bearing fruit.  Something life-sustaining from a tiny, seemingly inert seed.  Maybe I can use something concrete here in the natural world to explain about "supernatural" to my children. 

Dear Lord, please help me encourage a spiritual imagination in my children, so that they might understand.
Amen.