Saturday, October 4, 2025

Dear God,

Today when I hear and see things being said about Jesus, I have to ask myself once again, "Who is Jesus?"  Although I am a Christian and a retired pastor, oftentimes, I do not know the man about which some people talk.  A white bully carrying an American flag shouting obscenities is not the Jesus I know.  I don't like that Jesus.  If Jesus is a sidekick rather than a merciful comforter and wise teacher, I do not want to walk with this Jesus.  I don't claim him as my shepherd, savior and friend.

Jesus can't be a made-up, mean-spirited big guy that simply portrays who I make him to be.  Although different in some ways, this Jesus is no more effective than the bronze idol the Hebrews fashioned in the desert.  There is nothing I see in this Jesus that is like the one I read about and have met on many occasions.

Jesus must be more, not less than who and what I see in America today.  He must be greater and larger than me or anyone else.  He must be the resurrected lover of the soul of every person who calls the shots rather than those who try to.  He must be the one who holds the lost lamb, helps the woman find her only coin, opens eyes of the arrogant blind, lifts up the wounded, lost and hurting and whispers, "I am the way, the truth and the life; I am the light of the world; I am the good shepherd.  This is the Jesus I remember.

We so easily

lose our way,

dear God.

We forget

we are

to serve you

and not

the other 

way around.

Forgive us;

forgive us;

forgive us,

we pray.

Love, Andrea