Like the Water and the Wind

One winter day, a friend asked another, "Where's your God?" The kid replied that He's everywhere. She asked how can he tell? since humans can't 'sense' Him. He told her that people can 'sense' Him, just not in the conventional sense of the word. And so she asked, "What do you sense about Him then?" He replied that he feels -- and knows of -- God's love. "Really. And this imaginary 'love' from God, how does it feel?" He wondered at why she would call it imaginary. She replied that since they cannot hold it with their hands, nor can they see it, or taste it, or smell it, or etc... it must be imaginary. He was baffled as to how to explain God's love to someone such as this. The kid thought hard for a good while, until this analogy came to him.

He inhaled slowly and asked her, "What am I doing right now?" and she answered, "Breathing." Exhaling, he asked her to tell him what he was breathing. "Air, duh." Next he asked what would happen to him if he stopped breathing this air. "You'd pass out or die. Most likely, I think you'd pass out then start breathing unconsciously again." He agreed that that would be the most likely outcome, adding, "So we can agree that we need air." Then he asked her, "Am I blind?" She asked him to explain himself. He commented that, since he was breathing this 'air', it cannot be a just an idea in his mind, and so by her reasoning, he should be able to see it, but he obviously couldn't. She didn't say anything.
He then pulled out a water bottle and started drinking. He said, "What is this?" and she replied, "Water." Righto! He told her to cup her pink hands and she did. He poured a little bit of water into her hands, and said, "Hey! Don't drop it! Look, you're letting it slip onto the floor!" She wiped her now wet and cold hands on his shirt, asking, 'What is your problem?! Now my hands are gonna be cold!" He raised his palms in surrender, pleading that it was her fault since she said that he was drinking water. He'd just assumed that since water is real, she would be able to hold it. He kept explaining himself after she gave him a really dirty look -- and not the 'good' kind of dirty look too.

"Well, you said that we can't hold God's love in our hands, but you could'nt hold the water in yours either. You said we couldn't taste or smell His love, but what does water or air taste like to you? I dunno about you, but good, clean, and pure water and air don't taste or smell like anything to me. You said we couldn't see His love, but you can't see air either. But you do know it's there. You might not feel it normally, but you can feel air when it's pressing against your skin when the wind blows."
"Yeah? Well so what?"
"So what?! Air and water sustain us as long as we are living and want to continue living, here on Earth anyway. We would die in a matter of days without food, sure. Maybe in a week. Food you can see, feel, hold, and taste. Without water, we wouldn't last even a week. You can't really hold or taste water. And without air, we wouldn't last an hour. We can't see, smell, hold, or really do anything with air. But it turns out the things we need the most aren't really 'sensible'. What do you think of that?!" he asked with an air of triumph.
"You're retarded. Now my hand is freezing. Thanks a lot."

EDIT: Haha, that's a good reason, but "love" isn't measured by gifts, really. And it's okay, I'll just... hold onto yours. You've got em all on your iPod anyway, right?