HOPE AND GLORY : Godnastics

Your 4-year-old is suddenly full of questions about religion. Is there a God? What happens when you die? Is Tinkerbell an angel? It’s a topic some parents dread as much as sex.

Atheists and the faithful have it easy; they can just pass their beliefs on to their kids. But for others, doubts are inevitable, and common-sense guidance is hard to find.

For parents who do believe but have lost their own spiritual bearings, David Wolpe, a rabbinical teacher at the University of Judaism in Bel-Air, has devised a series of exercises for parent and child. From his book, “Teaching Your Children About God”:

* List the things in which you no longer believe. The belief could have been a fairy tale or Santa or Superman. Remember when you lost your belief, and why. Could you imagine believing in it again, perhaps in another form?

* Try to uncover your child’s own ideas about God. Their analogies can be illuminating.

* Act like a fool with your child. The pursuit of spirituality needn’t always be somber.

Some of Wolpe’s tips are almost Zen-like:

* Sit with your child in a dark room, placing a candle behind him. Ask if he can can see the light. They can see that it is light, but not the light itself. Tell them that God is like light, that we see what we see because of God’s presence.

* Look out your window at something ordinary yet beautiful. Consider it for several moments. To understand the artist, cultivate an appreciation for the work of art.

* Build a sandcastle. Watch the tide wash it away. Was God found in the doing, or the destiny, of that sandcastle?