Ongkingco
The boy’s father could not figure out what to do next.
Toby was only four, but being on the heavy side already looked like he was six.
They already put him on a diet, but the doctor suggested that this would work better if Toby had more physical activities.
“Sir, I think I could help out,” one of the household helpers told the father.
“What have you thought of?” he asked.
“I will take him out for more walks,” she replied.
“But Toby doesn’t enjoy walking. He prefers to read books, watch cartoons and play video games.”
“Well, at least we could try what I have in mind,” the helper said.
After some weeks, the father noticed that Toby was spending more time outside than inside.
Although he still reads books, played computer games and watched TV, he was slowly becoming a more active child.
Curious about his son’s new behavior, he called the helper.
“I see that you’re slowly getting Toby to exercise more. How did you do it?”
“We played games!” the helper excitedly answered.
“What type of games?”
“The ones my father taught me,” the helper shared.
“For example?”
“Hide and seek, catch the tiger’s tail, counting clouds, and more!”
“What is his favorite game?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” the helper giggled.
One day, the father found his son in his room and asked, “Toby, what’s your favorite game with yaya?”
“Here and there,” the boy immediately said.
“I’ve never heard of that game before.”
“You want to play it, Dad?”
“Sure!”
“But we can play it better outside,” Toby suggested.
“Will it take long?”
“Nope, but it’s really fun!”
The boy caught his father’s hand and led him outside.
“So how does this game go, son?”
“Where are we now, Daddy?” Toby asked.
“Well, I guess we are here,” he chuckled, feeling a bit silly with his reply.
“Right!”
“What now?” Toby’s dad was a little lost.
“But now, we have to go there,” Toby pointed to a nearby tree.
“Okay, so how do we get there?”
“By walking there,” Toby laughed and started tugging his father towards the tree’s direction.
They reached the tree and stopped under its shade.
“Where are we now, Daddy?”
“We are here, son!”
“Correct! But we have to get there again, Daddy!” He pointed to a STOP sign farther down the street.
“That’s a bit far from the house, son,” the dad said reluctantly.
“But it’s there daddy! And we are not there!”
The dad wobbled behind his son and thought how silly the game was.
When they finally reached the sign, Toby asked, “Are we there, Daddy?”
“Yes, I guess we are, Toby.”
“No, Daddy. We are here! And now we have to get there!” The boy pointed to another bigger tree down the block.
“Can’t we just ride there, son?”
“Daddy, yaya said it’s better to walk. So going from here to there, we could tell stories!”
Toby’s father then understood why his son enjoyed the game! It was a chance for him to talk and tell stories and bond.
From that time onwards, Toby’s dad accompanied him on his here-and-there games.
* * *
Childish as the game sounds, God also invites us to something similar and yet more important: we are here on earth and He wants us to get there, to Heaven!
We must be ready to play with Him, no matter how boring and stupid things our life may sound.
And sometimes, the divine yaya — the Holy Spirit — skillfully leads us along this path so that we may realize that being satisfied with being here isn’t all worth our life.
May we not resist His invitations, becoming children once again, so that our ordinary here’s become divine there’s as we journey towards our heavenly home.