"Dad, why is it hard to share?"

My brother and his family are in town for Thanksgiving. He has a 5 year old daughter and 3 and 1 year old boys. The older of two boys, being at an age where more responsibility for his actions is required of him, has to give of himself quite a bit to the 1 year old. A couple days ago, he asked a very profound question that I am sure all of us ask often.

The 3 year old looked at my brother and said, "Dad, it's hard to share. Why is it hard to share?" So my brother went into a long discourse about the trials of sin and a catechesis on the 7 deadly sins, and... Well he didn't exactly say that, but that is of course the answer. It is hard to share, because we are tainted by sin.

Any one of us could ask the same question any day of our life: "Dad, why is it hard to give of ourselves?" It is hard to give, because we wish we could think only of ourselves. I don't know about you, but I sure am glad that we have a God who thought only of us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that we might not die, but might have eternal life."