Hide and Seek with God
by Mary Ann Moore

Once upon a time God said, "I'm bored because I don't have anything to do. I want to play with my friends." And because God is God, as soon as the words were spoken God's friends were there. When God saw them all gathered, God said, "I've been bored because I haven't had anything to do. Let's play something." "Good idea," said God's friends, "What shall we play?" God thought for a minute and then said, "I know, let's play hide and seek!" The friends all said, "Yeay", for they knew that hide and seek with God was always exciting and different because God was the one who hid and God always thought of wonderful places to hide.

So God's friends closed their eyes tight and they counted to ten. When they opened their eyes God wasn't there anymore. So they all went off to look for God.

One friend decided to look close.upon the earth and soon came to a meadow. As he was searching, he stopped to admire the tender new sprouts of green grass pushing their way up toward the sun. As he bent over to look more closely at the tender green, he realized there was something special and amazing and wonderful about it. So he jumped up and ran back to home base, calling out, "I found God! God is green and growing. I found God in the grass"

Another one of God's friends decided to look for God m the night. She watched the sun go down, and the work-a-day noises stop, and the lights in the houses go out. As it got darker and as the peaceful night wrapped itself around her, she listened very hard, and then she realized there was something special and amazing and wonderful about it. And when it was so still that she could see and hear nothing at all, she suddenly jumped up and ran to home base, calling out, "I found God! God is dark and peaceful. I found God in the night!"

A third friend looked upon the earth and he felt the mystery of the grass growing toward the sun. He stayed and watched the night on and he felt the mystery of the darkness and the stars. He thought to himself, "These mysteries are special and amazing and wonderful". But when he finally came back to home base, he said, "I found wonderful mysteries but I'm not sure if I want to call them God."

A fourth friend decided to look for God where people were. He joined a group of people going home from work and went with them into the store where they bought food. He went with them back out on the street as they started for their homes. He was with them when someone came up and said, "Please, I am very hungry. Could you share a little food with me?" The people readily agreed and as he watched,~he realized there was something special and amazing and wonderful about those people and he suddenly turned around and ran to home base, calling out, "I found God! God is love and sharing. I found God in people who care for others"

Finally, two more of God's friends, a boy and a girl, decided to look for God together. After a time, they came to a house and they decided to look for God in the house. In the house they saw a room and they looked for God in the room. And in the room they saw a mirror and they looked for God in the mirror. As they looked into the mirror they realized there was something special and amazing and wonderful being reflected in it and they suddenly turned around and ran to home base, calling out, "We found God! We found God in us"

At this God appeared again and said, "I had so much fun! Weren't those good hiding places? Some of you found me, others weren't sure, and others are still looking. That's OK because the most important thing is just to play the game. Let's do it again because I'm sure I can think of some other good hiding places." And they all called out, "Olly, olly, oxen free, free, free," and the game started all over again.