“Do you know
other grown-ups?”
“Of course I do. There is Hedda, our maid. And there is Jake,
our gardener. And there is Millie who does our laundry. The tree outside my
window grew close enough for me to reach out and touch it. But Papa told Jake
to trim it. He said it rubbed against the house. But I told Jake the tree was
my friend and that branch I needed. And Jake didn’t cut it off. And then Papa
went out and said he wanted it off because it was too close to the house. Jake
said, I liked the branch, because I could reach out my window and touch it. Then
Papa said he didn’t want me hanging out the window and he would put a safety
screen on the window. Then he told Jake to cut off the branch and be quick
about it. Papa said I had plenty of other things to play with. He made Jake saw
it off far away from the window but Jake saved me the tip end of the branch
that I used to touch. And he gave it to me. He told me it was an
old elm tree, probably two hundred years old, and in all that time, probably no
one ever loved it as much as I did.”
“That was really very nice. I was in God’s house today for
the very first and only time. Tell me, why do some people believe in God and
some not believe?”
“I think everyone makes up his own mind for himself.”
"I wonder what God is like. Grandmother told me, God is our
Father in heaven. I wouldn’t like God to be like (my)
Papa. Because sometimes, I don’t think like Papa loves me. Grandmother
says that Papa does love me. But if he does why don’t I know it? Grandmother loves
me and I love her, and I know because I feel it deep inside of me. It’s hard to
figure things like this out. It makes me feel lonesome not knowing
God.”