October 22, 2003

God’s number

One of the Pentagon’s top generals got into some comparative religion the other day and started sizing up God.

He claimed that his Christian God is bigger than the Muslim’s and that, in fact, theirs really isn’t a god at all. It wasn’t the sort of thing generals customarily say in public, but apparently he just couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t the first time.

A little boy had just celebrated his sixth birthday. A day or so later, it was yet very much on his mind when he asked his father (within earshot of his chortling mother), “Dad, does God have a number?”

Startled, his father quickly came to and realized that his son was wondering whether God also might have birthdays. As he scrambled for an answer, the boy came to his rescue. “Of course not,” he said, with an insight that might have made Paul Tillich proud, “I guess God just be’s himself.”

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