Someone asked me what my Jiminy Cricket thingie was all about.

I guess I have never described it here.

I shall do so for those who have not heard it.  For those of you who have, I shall try to be brief (or you can stop reading now).

When I was 7 years old, my mother was sick.  She had what was referred to then as a 'nervous breakdown'.  I had no idea what that was; all I knew was that my mother was not there and I didn't know where she was.

Someone kind took me to see the movie Pinocchio. In it, there is a cricket named Jiminy who gives Pinocchio advice and listens and is ALWAYS, well, just THERE!

I remember sitting in that theatre as a frightened and confused little 7 year old and thinking that I wished that I had a Jiminy...

...and THEN I remember thinking (in my 7 year old way) that I DID have Someone with me all the time.

I had God.

At that very moment, my faith was born.

It remains today.

Not childish but childlike.

Oh, that Presence has not kept me from pain or hurt or death or LIFE but it has always been, well, just THERE.

In later years when studying for a workshop on faith that I was leading, I read a quote by Leslie Weatherhead that took me back to that frightened and confused 7 year old.

"Faith is imagination grown up."

How about that?

From Jiminy to God.

As a 7 year old, my imagination began the journey.

As a 67 year old, my faith continues that journey.

60 years of KNOWING that SOMEONE is ALWAYS, well, just THERE.

It's made all the difference.

THAT is what my Jiminy Cricket thingie is all about.