JOHN: Hey God…How’s it going?
GOD: What?
JOHN: How’s it going?
GOD: You startled me. So few ask me that. That’s one of the best things about you, John. You care about others.
JOHN: Thanks. So….What have you seen this weekend that makes you really happy?
GOD: Well…let’s see…(names a few great things that have happened) (end with…) How about you?
JOHN: (names a few things… ends with…) I guess we agree. How does that happen, God? When I’m here…when I’m around these people and doing these things, you and I agree about everything…like we’re thinking together. Then I go home…I do other things…and it seems like… I don’t know how to say this.
GOD: Like I moved away?
JOHN: Well….sort of.
GOD: You’re half right. One of us changes. (a beat, then) Guess which one?
JOHN: (a beat) There’s no guessing to it. So how do I stay tight with you, Lord? How do I keep this feeling all the time?
GOD: Maybe you’re using the wrong word.
JOHN: Huh?
GOD: This “feeling..” it can get tricky. John…I’m more than how you feel at the moment.
JOHN: I know, but…
GOD: That big leap you took…
JOHN: Huh?
GOD: Didn’t you win the slam-dunk championship last winter?
JOHN: Oh. Yeah.
GOD: How’d you feel?
JOHN: Great. I couldn’t believe it.
GOD: Great feeling, huh?
JOHN: Oh yeah.
GOD: And then that day your grandpa died.
JOHN: (stops…confused…a beat, then) I was little.
GOD: And you felt pretty bad.
JOHN: The worst I ever felt.
GOD: When you slammed the basketball through the hoop and won first place were you thinking of me?
JOHN: Well…not exactly.
GOD: And when you grandpa died?
JOHN: (a beat) I thought about you all the time….a lot.
GOD: Feelings….feelings, John. They can fool you. At camp you feel pretty good…and we’re close. But sometimes…sometimes it’s the rough times where we’re even closer. Don’t always go on feeling, okay?
JOHN: Okay.
GOD: What’s your favorite verse?
JOHN: I guess John 3:16.
GOD: And it says…
JOHN: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, and whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life.
GOD: See? I did the feeling part. You did the doing. Just keep believing, okay? Feelings come and go, but ….
JOHN: …but God goes on forever. No matter how I’m feeling.
GOD: You know, I think I could get to like you.
JOHN: (a beat, smiles, then) You too, Lord. You too.