Dear Editor:

Debates aside, there is a long list of observant and curious children who surprised their parents with definitive conclusions of emotional designs that create purpose in their lives.  My son, Delmar at age four, is one of those children. He had watched the stars in the sky disappear on our way to preschool and determined that the stars were food for the sun every day so that new stars could be born. While not based on science, it is a scientific theory, used to define cause and purpose.

In May, President Trump again declared war on Christmas. Recently I discovered a child who determined “his purpose in life was to shape and share messages of “hope and peace placed in his heart by God.” He saw all of humanity as mosaic art with messages of hope and peace. His name is Mattie J.T. Stepanek, who began reading and writing at age three.

Mattie used hope and peace during Christmas. It is difficult to believe that anyone thinks the God who forbids killing would want war to remind us of his son who saved lives and forgave wrongdoing, providing hope and peace for every human being on this planet.  Scriptures remind us of a child’s knowledge. Their courage and vision often see the purpose of life itself.  One child saw a promise that kept his sister living in his heart. Mattie used hope and peace in his heart to spread his vision in seven bestselling books beginning at age ten. At age 12 he was interacting with world leaders, encouraging concentrating on peace not war.

One thing I am sure of is everyone and everything is created for a purpose.  Not everyone may be aware of what that purpose is about, but Mattie Stepanek lived that purpose helping others, seeking peace and hope, knowing his gift of life included a rare neuromuscular disease that took his human life at age 14, leaving a world of books and poems behind as reminders of what he sought and the courage he received from having purpose in his life.

Jarryl Larson

Edgecomb