Buddha. Jesus. God.

On Friday night my girls babysat friends kids, while the 4 of us went out for a drink.  We had a good time, though BD & I played counselor to this struggling couple.  Not struggling monetarily, but emotionally--marriage struggling.  It's ironic, considering BD & I are not married, but both of us have had enough experience I suppose, we clearly see their situation. At one point the husband, half jokingly, asked if I could move in with them to be their personal counselor.  She said he wants her parents to move in for that reason also. Hm.


Fast forward to getting back to their house.  I pick up their daughter to tell her goodbye.  
She's almost 4.
She looks at my necklace....a gold Buddha on one side, Chinese characters on the other.  I've worn it everyday since December.  My mom gave it to me as a gift for my teacher training.  She holds it in her hand:
"Who's that?"  She asks.
"It's Buddha." I reply.
"What's that?" She asks.
"What do you think it is?" I ask her.
She then reminds me of why we need to always stay open...
"God," She said with a distant smile.  She then tells me that Jesus loves her.  And loves Grandpa S. and he's in heaven with Jesus.  I smiled and said 'yes' feeling most fortunate to have this experience with her.  


Knowing this family, I can tell you that they wouldn't be able to explain one thing about Buddha.  And here their 4 year old simply connected the dots to it all...
Om.