Looking for Jesus
I've only recently started to become curious about Jesus. To some, that may sound heretical, but as a young boy working in a Catholic retreat center, I rejected formal religion after a priest told me that anyone who wasn't Catholic was going to Hell. I realize now that I cut myself off from many of the good things about religion. I am grateful to have met Father Richard Rohr, spent time with him, and read his books. He has connected me to the idea of Jesus more than the story of Jesus.
The idea of Jesus can be summed up in one word: Love. Love is a singularity, something that cannot be reduced to anything more. Forgiveness, for instance, is a manifestation of love.
If Jesus were to return, or depending on your beliefs, when Jesus returns, where would we look for him? I don’t think we would find him in corporate boardrooms, on Wall Street, in either political party, or in some churches. Instead, I believe we would find him in what we call the worst parts of town, with people who are suffering and have been excluded from the mainstream of our culture. Exclusion wasn’t part of Jesus’s "business model." I choose to believe that he would create a website for a same-sex marriage.
We don’t have to wait for Jesus to return. The idea of Jesus is working in many parts of our community. We can see this idea in action by observing the many people who are working selflessly to help others, regardless of the color of their skin, income, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, or any other characteristics that make them “different” from the rest of us.
Do you remember the bracelets that had WWJD printed on them? It stood for “What would Jesus do?” As I watched the news today and saw razor wire stretched across the border, heard stories of water being refused to people trying to cross the border, including children, and people being physically pushed back into the Rio Grande, I thought of that acronym, what would Jesus do?