Why I’m So Interested in Jesus – Don Hanley’s blog #40

I had impatiently waited three weeks to join Mary and John again in my dreams. I was pleased that they were patiently waiting for me. i wanted to show them a 21st. century book or books, so I brought the three novels and my memoir with me into the dream. They are in English but I hope my translating angel would translate the titles into Aramaic for them. I wondered what the translator would do with my naughty word in the title of my memoir - FINDING FLOWERS IN A LITTLE PILE OF SHIT. I put the books under my chair and planned to leave them there when I vanished. 

John was ready with a question for me. “Well, Don, you have been asking Mary and me questions about Jesus; now, please tell us a bit about yourself. What have you been doing for, what is it, 90 years?
And why are you so interested in Jesus and what he was thinking and doing two thousand years ago? That is an awful long time. I thought that if we went back 90 years from now, here in Galilee, we’d be in a time before the Romans barged into our land. So, tell us a bit about what in the world you have been doing all these years. That has made you so curious about our Jesus.”

I wasn’t expecting this query, so I started quite slowly, “Well, John, that is a very interesting question. Jesus is now recognized as the object of worship by more than a billion people living in the 21st Century. And . . . ”

Mary, rather urgently, put up her hand to stop me, “Wait a minute, Don. You must be talking about someone other than my son and John’s friend who the Romans executed. Jesus was a wonderful boy and a man who radiated kindness and love, and some say he was very enlightened and gave people hope. He loved people and loved to teach, but he would never want to be worshiped by anyone, ever.” She looked and sounded angry. “So, tell me, was this the same Jesus you and I have discussed all these times? And was he born in Nazareth?”

“Yes, but the New Testament writers, and some historians perhaps, and most claim to know him, say he was born in Bethlehem.”

John interrupted me and said, “You do know, Mary, that there are many stories that say that it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, so to establish the idea that Jesus was the Messiah, they found stories that put him being born there. I don’t think the current writers, including me, think that to be true, but even now, many do think Jesus was, and is, the Messiah. He told us and everyone who walked with him that he was not the Messiah. So, Don, do your best to correct that in your 21^st Century. Okay?”

I wasn’t sure what to tell John and Mary, but I knew that I could do little to correct our 21^st Century thinking, so I just said, “I’ll do what I can, but I want you to know that so-called Christians – that is the name those who say they believe in Jesus call themselves – have gone to war over this question and many other similar questions. It seems that every group seems to think that their version of who Jesus was and what he taught is the ABSOLUTE truth, and if you do not believe their truth, you will go to hell. I do not like that, nor do I believe it.”

Mary looked as distraught as she did the day I mentioned the crucifixion. I waited in silence, as did John. After several minutes, Mary, in a soft but very firm voice, said, “Don, if we are talking about the same person, and I‘m beginning to believe that we are, I am very sure that Jesus, my Son, has been very misunderstood. Even as a boy, he said that to worship someone was to put that person on some kind of pedestal and admire them and then ignore who they really are.

“Well, Mary and John, that is why I’m so interested in Jesus. I was once, 60 years ago, ordained a Catholic priest.” Seeing the questioning looks on their faces, I added that Catholics are the largest denomination or group of Christians who worship Jesus, and they believe that if anyone wants to be saved, they must be baptized, that is, go through a ritual that makes them officially a Catholic. I like many of the things they are doing, but not all, and I do not believe I am doomed if I do not believe everything they say that I must. 

I want to learn, from people like you what Jesus was really like and what he really taught. I guess that many Christians believe was, and is the Messiah but the Catholics do not use that word, but do believe that he is the Chosen one whom we must believe in, in order to get to heaven. And many who claim to follow Jesus believes that praying to him may be helpful to them and that they may receive spiritual and even material benefits - like wealth - if they are faithful to him. Still many believe that if only they keep all of his rules and tell the world that they believe in him, then they, individually, will go to heaven where they will bind bliss. And, before I could finish explaining my position, I vanished . . .  Please–

Continue opening and nurturing your heart, studying the menus, and feasting at the beautiful banquet you were born into.