(Exposition)

It was a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon. Amy was at her friend Debbie's house. When Amy arrived, she saw that there were others there as well. 

“Who are they?” asked Amy. 

“Some of mom’s friends.” Debbie replied before saying, “Let's go play!” 

Amy and Debbie were sitting on the carpet near the couch playing with some toys, when Amy saw a picture of a man. 

“Who’s that?” Amy asked Debbie. 

“Who’s Jesus?” asked Amy. 

Debbie’s mom was behind them when she heard the question, and she answered, “Jesus is the Son of God, and he is what we Christians believe in. If you kids are interested, I can tell you some things about Christianity.”

“Yes!” said both Amy and Debbie at the same time. 

Debbie’s mom went to the couch near the kids and sat down. Amy and Debbie put down their toys and sat in front of Debbie’s mom. 

“Christianity is a religion that was caused by the life and the things taught by Jesus (“Christianity - some basics”). And like I said before, Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God (“Christianity - some basics”). And the religion even began when Jesus was born into the world.”

A few kids that were playing around, got curious about what Debbie’s mom was talking about and sat in front of her as well. 

“We believe that Jesus’s father is the Holy Spirit of God, making Jesus the Son of God (“Christianity Basic Beliefs”). The first few followers of Jesus believe that he was the Messiah, or messenger (‘Christianity Basic Beliefs”). Think of him like a mailman who delivers words rather than letters. And he was sent by God to free God’s people from bad things (“Christianity Basic Beliefs”).

“From the beginning, Christians had come together in prayer and worship, making groups that were filled in love and friendship (“Christianity - some basics”). And to this day, that is what we still do. We would all go to church and do those things together, sharing our faith in God, all to tell God that we are here and getting the love that he gives us (“Christianity - some basics”). 

Debbie's mom then asked, "Now, do you kids know what a Bible is?"

Some kids nodded their heads in reply, while some shook their heads. 

“Well, a Bible is a very long book, with four books making up the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which has all the facts about Jesus in it (“What is Christianity”).” 

“The books have names?” asked Amy. 

“Yep, but don’t get them mixed up with other people’s names. See the book in that bookshelf? That one is the Bible.” 

“Woah! That is so big!” said the kids.

“And the four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John’s goal is to prove to others that Jesus was the son of God and the one who saved the world. And there are three main types of Christianity. Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox (“Christianity: Basic Beliefs”).”

“Do you have to read the whole book?” asked Amy. 

“Well, if you choose to read the whole thing, then there would be some things that can help you. Such as being able to know God better, knowing yourself better, and how the Bible talks about Jesus (Wetherell). But, that is only saying a few helpful things.”

“Now, there isn't just Christianity. There are other religions as well. Along with those religions, each one has their own God that they believe in,” said Debbie’s mom.

(Conflict)

“Then who is the real God? Who is really the one who created everything?” asked Amy. 

“Hmm…I don’t know the answer to that question....” said Debbie’s mom. 

A kid named Advik said, “My dad says that in Hinduism, we believe in three gods!”

“Why so many?” asked Amy. 

Advik’s dad came in and said, “Oh, are you guys talking about Hinduism?” 

“We were talking about Christianity at first, but I just finished.” Debbie’s mom replied. 

“Dad, Dad! Tell them about our religion!” said the Advik eagerly. 

“Well, do the rest of you want to know about it?” asked Advik’s dad.

All the kids nodded their heads. So Advik’s dad sat next to Debbie’s mom

(Rising Action)

“Well, those who believe in Hinduism are called Hindus. And Hinduism can also be said as Sanatana Dharma, which means “old way of living right” (''Oneness”). But since it might be too difficult for you kids to say, you can just say it as Hinduism. And in Hinduism, we Hindus accept all other faiths and religious paths (“Oneoness”). We believe that no one’s religion is all true, as there are many paths to find and get to understand religion (“Oneness”).” said Advik’s dad.

“Do you have a book like the Bible?" asked Debbie. 

“We have something similar to that. We call them holy texts, and they are called Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, and Ramayana (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). Vedas are about 3,000 years old, and are the oldest of the holy texts.”

“Woah!” said the kids. 

Advik's dad said, “And the Vedas are a bunch of songs, prayers, magic spells (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). No, they don’t let you do magic. What they are are chants used for people who want to train on Hinduism (Northern Territory Government). As for the other four, Upanishads are stories told by teachers to their students (Northern Territory Government). Mahabharata is a story of a war between two royal families (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). Bhagavad Gita, is about simple ideas such as atman, which is the soul, samsara, which is rebirth, and other ideas (“The Bhagavad Gita”). And last of the four is Ramayana which is a story of the god Rama, saving his wife Sita from Ravana, the demon king (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”).”

“Now, the main thing that we Hindus are looking for is our own path of knowing who we are, through four paths which are: worship and prayer, work, yoga, and knowing yourself (Northern Territory Government). If you want to train yourself on knowing the truth of all things, then you would train with yoga (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). There are four yogas called Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Raja Yoga (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). And you can even do two, three, or all of them at once. 

Karma yoga is training to get rid of greed (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”).  Bhakti yoga is the path of worshiping God (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). Raja yoga is making your mind very calm and quiet, and in that silence would the inner divine light reveal itself (“Hinduism: Basic Beliefs”). And Jnana yoga is training on what you know of Brahman and Atman and know of their harmony (“The Path of Knowledge”)," said Advik's dad.

“We also believe that God can be worshiped with or without a body (Northern Territory Government).”

“What does that mean?” Amy asked. 

“Well, most Hindus believe and pray to three gods, who are Brahma, the creator of the universe, Vishnu the one who protects the universe, and Shiva, the one who destroys the universe (The British Museum). And those three make up the Hindu ”trinity” or group of three people (The British Museum)."

                       Trinity 

"Now, there is a major idea called the law of karma, which is the law of cause and effect where everything you do has an effect in this life or the next (Northern Territory Government). Think of it as if I were to trip over a rock. That would be the cause. Then the effect would be that I would fall over," said Advik's dad. 

A person named Adisa came in asking, “What are you guys talking about?” 

“We’re talking about religions! Do you have one?” said one of the kids.