Infinity-plus one

“Dad…I have an important question for you,” my daughter said.

Whenever I hear—I have an important question for you—I always think that I am in trouble. It could be just about anything.

“Yes, Honey.” I asked nervously.

“What do they mean when they say that God was never born and He will never die?”

I was stunned, I just looked at her. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at her question, her mind is always going. Kids do come up with the toughest questions sometimes and this one was a corker. I guess I was really in trouble because I was stumped. Then it hit me. It was like a flash of light, like the proverbial light bulb people talk about; However, I knew it was divine intervention that gave me the perfect analogy.

“Well,” I said as I sat down next to her on the couch, “you know how…when you’re learning math and you start at the number zero.”

“Yeah?” she said inquisitively.

“Well…what is the largest, the highest number you can think of?”

“A billion, billions,” she said assertively.

So I quickly countered with, “Ok…a billion, billion and one.”

Now she looked at me with a stunned look. So I said, “OK, now give me another one, even higher than the last one.”

She thought for a moment and then said, “A zillion, trillion, billion…one,” thinking she had me beat.

Again I quickly countered with “A zillion, trillion, billion and…two. See, no matter how much you think, that a number is the highest number, there is always another number after it. There is no end to numbers, this is called Infinity and God is like infinity; He will never die.”

Then I said, “The same goes for God never being born.”

“What do you mean?” she said looking a little confused.

“Well, if there is always another number, to the right of zero, the positive numbers, then there is an infinite amount of numbers to the left of zero, the negative numbers.”

She looked at me, not saying anything, just nodding her head. I was happy with my answer, thinking it was so profound, but I needed to humble myself and remember that it was not me that came up with that answer. Then our silence was broken by her sweet voice when she said, “I still don’t get it.”

I laughed and said, “It’s alright Honey. It’s not easy. That is why God is such a mystery. We get bits and pieces and in the end it all comes down to faith. It is OK not to understand. Just believe that I believe and someday you might and always, always, always, remember that my love for you is like infinity.”