Helene Claire is a magical girl who loves to play and laugh.
From her very early years she was full of life and adventure.
Sometimes this gets her into trouble.
Helene's family seems very different than her friend's families.
Her mommy is a Muslim and her daddy is a Christian.
To make matters worse,
Her parents do not live together anymore and some people say Her mom was pretty full of herself,
Which seems to be a very bad thing.
Helene often wishes her family was just normal.
Sometimes Helene's mom seems very sad and Helene wonders if maybe this is somehow her fault.
But every day her mom tells her,
You were wonderful.
You were amazing.
You were magical.
Do you know how much I love you?
Helene stretches her arms as wide as she possibly can and says,
This much.
Helene's mom smiles.
Even more than that,
Habibti.
I love you that much times infinity.
But when she goes to the big church that her daddy attends,
Or her mommy's small mosque,
She doesn't feel quite right.
In fact,
She feels confused.
One day,
Helene sneezed hard.
Her mother mothered.
Alhamdulillah,
She asked Tulani.
Do you know what that means?
No,
She answered.
It means,
Thank you God.
When we sneeze,
We give thanks to God for taking any bad thoughts or sickness out of us.
Noticing that Helene still looked confused,
Her mother asked,
Do you feel God inside of you?
Helene looked down a little ashamed and shook her head.
I don't feel God.
Maybe God is only for my big brother.
She thought to herself.
At church,
They only say he for God.
And in the mosque,
The women have to sit in another room and cover up because some men think they are a distraction.
Her mother paused,
Noticing her sad face,
And whispered.
Maybe you have the Girl God inside of you.
Helene smiled a big,
Big smile.
Yes!
I feel the girl got in me.
What do you suppose the Girl God looks like,
Her mom asked curiously.
Like grandma.
Helene exclaimed joyously.
Mom smiled.
Maybe you were the girl god.
Helene smirked.
That could not be.
How could she be the girl god?
She was not like Moses or Jesus or Muhammad.
She was not a he.
But somewhere inside her,
When no one was telling her how to act or what to do,
She felt very powerful.
In the beginning.
God was a woman,
Her mother explained.
And I don't know anyone who was not born from a woman.
Do you?
The Bible includes male and female descriptions of God,
But many places of worship only use masculine language for her.
And in the Muslim faith,
Many of the words of the female scholars were simply thrown out.
Can you imagine how much of our religion would change if we heard it through the mouths of women instead of mostly men?
Helene and her mom began to discover girl gods all around them.
They learned about the many women who had done so much in all the world religions only to be silenced or ridiculed or taking up of the important history books later.
They figured those women must have been pretty powerful.
And with this discovery,
Both Helene and her mom began to feel stronger and more powerful too.
Helene and her mom soon decided that the girl god was in both of them.
In fact,
The girl god was in everyone.
Can you find the Girl God inside of you?
Do you hear her voice?
You are wonderful.
You are amazing.
You are magical.
Do you know how much I love you?
Stretch your arms as wide as you possibly can and say,
This much.
And if you listen very closely,
You will hear the Girl God within you and around you say in her very big voice.
I love you even more than that.
I love you that much times infinity.
