God as a living person

 In the book Mister God, this is Anna, there is an interesting episode - among the many - where Fynn tucks little Anna into bed and ...

"Ain't you gonna say your prayers?" she asked. "Well, yes," I replied, "when I get to bed." "I want say mine now with you," she said. So we both god down on our knees and she talked while I listened. 

I've been to church many times, and heard many prayers, but none like this. I can't remember much about her prayer except that it started off with, "Dear Mister God, this is Anna talking," and she went on in such a familiar way of talking to Mister God that I had the creepy feeling that if I dared look behind me he would be standing there.

It is that familiarity and closeness with which Anna 'speaks' to God that caught my attention.  God, for her, was not a distant reality or a supernatural being to be adored.  For her, God was alive and present, in person, for real and therefore addressed and spoken to as if present here and now. 

I wonder how many of us will ever reach this stage of life, this personal experience of God.