Mister God, This Is Anna

Anna was only four years old when Fynn found her on London’s fog-shrouded docks.
He took her back to his mother’s home, and from that first moment, their times together were filled with delight and discovery. Anna had an astonishing ability to ask– and to answer–life’s largest questions. Her total openness and honesty amazed all who knew her. She seemed to understand with uncanny certainty the purpose of being, the essence of feeling, the beauty of love. Anna had a very special friendship with Mister God…

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“Tich,” I said, “what were you asking God about real questions for?”
“Oh, it’s just sad, that’s all.”
“What’s sad?”
“People is.”
“I see. What’s sad about people?”
“People ought to get more wise when they grow older. Bossy and Patch do, but people don’t.”
“Don’t you think so?” I asked.
“No. People’s boxes get littler and littler.”
“Boxes? I don’t understand that.”
“Questions are in boxes,” she explained, “and the answers they get only fit the size of the box.”
“That’s difficult; go on a bit.”
“It’s hard to say. It’s like–It’s like the answers are the same size as the box. It’s like them dimensions.”
“Oh?”
“If you ask a question in two dimensions, then the answer is in two dimensions too. It’s like a box. You can’t get out.”
“I think I see what you mean.”
“The questions get to the edge and then stop. It’s like a prison.”
“I expect we’re all in some sort of prison.”
She shook her head. “No, Mister God wouldn’t do that.”
“I suppose not. What’s the answer then?”
“Let Mister God be. He lets us be.”
“Don’t we?”
“No, We put Mister God into little boxes.”
“Surely we don’t do that?”
“Yes, all the time. Because we don’t really love him. We got to let Mister God be free. That’s what love is.”
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– Fynn
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The story begins on the streets of the East End of London in the mid-1930s.Sydney Hopkins; the author (under the pseudonym “Fynn”) as a teenager and young adult, lived in the East End of London in the early 1930s. Some says it’s not truely autobiographical; some says Anna may be a fictional character and so on. Many places mentioned in the book have undergone redevelopment and they no longer exist.
In any case, the main reason for sharing excerpts of this 1974 publication, is it’s approach towards life’s biggest questions and unique way of finding their answers. It makes journey to find the truth as light, simple and fun filled as can be in our day to day life. This particular dialogue shows our limitation as a human race. We always see our fellow human beings on the basis of their class, colour, religion, language, ethnic origin and what not! Yes, we like to put them into boxes and our perception, understanding doesn’t go beyond it! That may be biggest reason for conflicts we see everywhere, if only we can see others as just like ourselves, a human being; without boxes!?!