Gabby, God's Little Angel is a cute little book and my girls love it. It's about a little guardian angel whose first assignment is a girl who turns out to be a bit of a handful - the main message being that God loves each and every one of his children, and he's sent his angels to protect us.
Having said that, though, I'm still a little unsure what to rate it. This whole idea that each of us has a guardian angel protecting us is not really in the Bible. And the book shows the angels up in "heaven", sitting on clouds and watching us down below.
One of the most dangerous ideas that Christianity has picked up is that heaven is a place of clouds and angels that we will go to when we die. This book obviously doesn't say anything about "when we die", but I wonder if it doesn't help when we tell our kids this is what heaven is like?
I was just flicking through a new book for kids yesterday, which was basically written to help them through the grief when a child loses someone they love. Brilliant concept. But their pictures of heaven - the place we're supposedly looking forward to, that makes all of this pain worthwhile - were of a place of fluffy clouds, with angels flying round, where we'll sing songs forever. It's a shame really.
Here's what's really going to happen - and it's much more real and worth looking forward to than that shallow image: One day God is going to restore and renew everything - flowers, trees, mountains, streams, hippopotamuses, chrysanthemums, the earth, the planets, the universe, and us too. God is going to bring heaven (the realm of God) and earth (the physical realm) together, never to be separated again. It's going to be like what we have now, but unimaginably better and more amazing. Fluffy clouds? Come on. I'm looking forward to the breathtaking beauty of mountain ranges, pacific islands, people with no limit to their creativity. A restored, renewed UNIVERSE, with no more pain, violence, cancer, crying, or death.
Now THAT'S worth looking forward to. Can't we tell our kids that instead?
But as for this cute little book about Gabby, God's Little Angel, I guess I'm ok with it. God is in a different realm at the moment, and I'm fine for kids to imagine he's in the clouds. And he does send his angels to protect us.
Having said that, though, I'm still a little unsure what to rate it. This whole idea that each of us has a guardian angel protecting us is not really in the Bible. And the book shows the angels up in "heaven", sitting on clouds and watching us down below.
One of the most dangerous ideas that Christianity has picked up is that heaven is a place of clouds and angels that we will go to when we die. This book obviously doesn't say anything about "when we die", but I wonder if it doesn't help when we tell our kids this is what heaven is like?
I was just flicking through a new book for kids yesterday, which was basically written to help them through the grief when a child loses someone they love. Brilliant concept. But their pictures of heaven - the place we're supposedly looking forward to, that makes all of this pain worthwhile - were of a place of fluffy clouds, with angels flying round, where we'll sing songs forever. It's a shame really.
Here's what's really going to happen - and it's much more real and worth looking forward to than that shallow image: One day God is going to restore and renew everything - flowers, trees, mountains, streams, hippopotamuses, chrysanthemums, the earth, the planets, the universe, and us too. God is going to bring heaven (the realm of God) and earth (the physical realm) together, never to be separated again. It's going to be like what we have now, but unimaginably better and more amazing. Fluffy clouds? Come on. I'm looking forward to the breathtaking beauty of mountain ranges, pacific islands, people with no limit to their creativity. A restored, renewed UNIVERSE, with no more pain, violence, cancer, crying, or death.
Now THAT'S worth looking forward to. Can't we tell our kids that instead?
But as for this cute little book about Gabby, God's Little Angel, I guess I'm ok with it. God is in a different realm at the moment, and I'm fine for kids to imagine he's in the clouds. And he does send his angels to protect us.
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