Jesus and Daniel

     May the Child Jesus be the star that guides you through the desert of your present life.

     St. Pio

  I came across this quote by St. Pio and it got me thinking about Jesus as a child.  The thought of Jesus as a child just brings me such joy.  It has inspired me to write this purely fictional story about Jesus at the age of ten.  It is written with the hope that it draws you closer to the child Jesus and increases your wonder and love for the very human Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus and Daniel

  Daniel was eager to finish washing the dishes from lunch.  He put the last bowl away and ran to find his mother.  'Mamma can I please go play with Jesus now?  He's waiting for me."

  "Did you finish all your chores?"

  "Yes and Papa says he doesn't need my help until later. Please can I go?  I don't want him to get mad at me "

  "Does he get mad at you often?"

  "No, he actually never gets mad at me.  He always understands.  But I get mad at myself when I make him wait.  So please can I go now?"

  "Well you can go but be back in time to help Papa. "

  " I will. Thanks Mamma."  Daniel ran as fast as he could.  He had seen Jesus up on the hill by his house an hour earlier and hoped he would still be there.  Jesus was his best friend. It just felt good being around him.  He told great stories and always made Daniel smile. He wondered how Jesus seemed to know so much more than him.

  "Hey Jesus," yelled Daniel as he began running up the hill.

  Jesus looked up and smiled as Daniel got close. "Hi Daniel.  You ran up the hill pretty fast today."

  "Ya, I know. Now I need to catch my breath.  So what were you doing?"

  "I was just praying."

  "You sure do pray a lot.  Does your mom make you?" inquired Daniel.

  "No one makes me pray.  I like praying to Yahweh.  I think my praying makes my mom smile though. She likes to pray a lot,  too."

  "My Papa said he was going to work with your Dad in town today. I think they're building a house.  Papa said pretty soon I'll be joining him and we will work together.  I want to be just like my Papa. How about you?  Do you want to be a carpenter, too?"

  "I'm going to build, too.  But not just one or two houses,  I'm going to build a whole kingdom here.  It's going to be called the Kingdom of God."

  "You can't build a whole kingdom yourself." said Daniel shaking his head.

  "I could," said Jesus,"but I don't want to do it alone. I want lots of people to help me.  I'm going to invite everyone to be a part of it."

  "Why would you want everyone to be a part of it?  I think you should just ask the really strong people or maybe the really smart people."

  Jesus picked up a stick and started drawing in the sand.  "I'm going to invite all the people who know how to love."

    "What?  That's stupid.  Why would you want to live in a kingdom where people just loved each other?"

  Jesus started drawing a stick person in the sand,  "Well wouldn't you want to live in a kingdom where people really cared about each other and nobody was jealous, greedy, or hurtful?  A place filled with peace and happiness.  Everyone would love each other not because they had to, but because they really wanted too."

  "Why would they want to?"

  "Because when they looked at each other, they would see each other the way Yahweh sees them."

  "Hmmm..... That does sound good....I think I would like to live there.  When are you going to start building it?"

 Jesus looked up from his drawing and said, "Well, will you help me?"

  "Sure, I guess." agreed Daniel.

  "Then I have already started.  I am just going to keep telling people about the Kingdom of God until everyone wants to join."

  "Well that sounds like a pretty good plan, do you think it will work?"

  Jesus started drawing in the sand again, "I think so, in fact, I would bet my life on it."

  Daniel smiled.  He wished he had thought about building a whole kingdom. "Hey do you want to race me down the hill?"

  Jesus set his stick down and said, "Okay, let's do it!"