Science & Religion...Deep Conversations with a 5 year old

So, tonight I was putting the "big boys" to bed--something I hadn't done in a while (since that's usually time they get with Daddy). They had watched one of the Land Before Time movies earlier in the day, so I think Andrew definitely had dinosaurs on the brain.

Here's how the conversation went.

A: "Mommy, where's the beach in Arizona?"
Me: "There is no beach in Arizona. We have to drive to California to get to the beach because that's where the ocean is. Arizona isn't by the ocean".
A: "Ooohhhh. So, in dinosaur time why was all the land pushed all together?"
Me: "Oh yah, they think the land was all pushed together and then there were lots of 'earth shakes' & the land moved"
This somehow then led to a whole exchange about the dinosaurs, how the fossils got here, and ultimately then, how did the dinosaurs die? So, I explained the how meteor thing...to which he asked why all the people didn't die. And, I explained that there weren't people living with the dinosaurs....
A: "Why?"
Me: "Well, I don't know why. There just weren't people living on Earth with dinosaurs".
A: "How did the people get here?"
Me: "Well, God made the people and put them here after the dinosaurs".
A: "Hmmmm....who put the dinosaurs here?"
Me: "God".
A: "Why can't we see Him?"
Me (oh boy): "Well Bud, I'm not sure why we can't see God. There's just some things that we can feel and we know are there but we just can't see".
A: "Hmmm" (long pause) "Mommy, why there weren't a lot of aminals with the dinosaurs?
Me: "Well, there were some other animals with the dinosaurs too".
A: "No, no, no...like ALL the aminals like now. Why did God make all the aminals and the people together, but not people and aminals and dinosaurs?
Me: "Well, I don't know, Bud. There's lots of things that we just don't know why."
A: "Hmm". (long pause...totally different tone) "Mommy, what if Apatosaurus lived now? Whoa that would be crazy"....
And, with that, the whole conversation & tone shifted and it was then most definitely bed time.

Good grief! I wasn't prepared for such deep conversations tonight--Lol! As I was laying there with him though, I was amazed at his little logical reasoning & thought process. And, if that's how bedtime conversation is going at 5, I think this mommy & daddy might need to prepare for some serious philosophical conversation down the road! :)