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Suzy was always an imaginative, verbal, excited child. When she was very little she never saw just one dog but, throwing her arms out wide, she'd say, "There were a zillion dogs out there." I feared that she would soon lose the ability to distinguish what was real from what was fantasy. So we talked about lies and the truth and God's commandments about telling the truth. As the time approached for her to enter school, I thought that I should take some firmer steps to teach Suzy about truth. I determined the next time she came in with a huge fib I'd find a way to really teach her.
That very afternoon, she was playing in the backyard and came running in excitedly yelling, "Mother, there's a bear in the backyard. A big brown bear!"
"Suzy, what have I told you about telling the truth? Now go up to your room and you talk to God about this."
Suzy disappeared to her room and was very quiet for a while. I went in to see how she was feeling, and with a beatific smile, she said, "I talked to God and he said he thought it was a bear at first, too."
By Winfield Firman
Marilyn L. Ali
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