Existentialism: Leila style.

My darling love of a child just asked me, "What does God mean?"
~crickets chirp~
"God and Allah are the same, honey."
"Why do we need God?"
~crickets chirp, very loudly~
Now, it isn't as if I couldn't think of an answer. I could think of lots of answers. But none of them seemed quite appropriate for my three-year-old. After I few false starts, I finally said, "Because He takes care of us."
I try really hard not to lie to Leila. My parenting style is rather blunt, though I think it's loving. When she asks big questions, I try to give short, simple, honest answers that make sense to her.

Unfortunately, my answer doesn't quite reflect what I believe. I believe God loves us, but I don't believe He "takes care" of us or "shelters" us, as many of the hymns from my childhood claim. My views of God are still developing. I grew up a hardcore Christian, somewhat conservative. I don't hold those views anymore, but I still believe in God, still have faith in Him.

But does He really take care of us? That goes against a lot that I have seen in my life. It would imply that He only takes care of some people...and the rest of people, those trapped in war zones, for example, are just SOL. I believe that God loves us. That's different.

So what is God?
And why do we need Him?

I don't have an answer.