What did Jesus feel? Did he ever experience that sinking feeling—that stone cold thud in the bottom of your gut—when you so completely and vulnerably lay your heart on the line, only to be misunderstood and met with cruel indifference? Did he ever lie in bed at night, weary and overwhelmed with all the sorrow of the world, and wonder, “What’s the point?” Did Jesus ever feel that his heart might cave in from the beauty of it all? Did he ever stop to marvel at a purple silk ribbon dancing in the desert wind and feel as though he were touching eternity as he watched it? Did Jesus ever feel that crushing blow of being wounded by the one he trusted most? Did he ever feel like an outsider and silently suffer the deep ache of loneliness? Did Jesus grieve over those things he could not change, and if so, was it ever so unbearable that he wept and wailed, and cried that cry that’s so deep that no sound comes out at all? Did Jesus ever miss somebody so terribly that he felt as if he’d been torn in two? Did he ever hurt so badly that he thought he might die, or want to? And if Jesus felt these things, what did he do with his feelings? Jesus didn’t psychologize or spiritualize people’s suffering. He didn’t even seem to try to explain it in light of God. Jesus faced suffering and tasted the depths of it. He leaned into it, endured it, and fully met others in their suffering. Jesus did not live a detached life, as I had understood it. Jesus cared. Jesus wept. Jesus felt it all deeply. There is some way, perhaps a middle way, between living in denial and being swallowed whole by the pain and suffering of human existence, and this is how Jesus lived. Being Jesus means that we go through life embracing it all fully and feeling it all deeply. That we don’t hide and try to protect ourselves. That we live. That we show up. That we laugh. That we cry. That we hurt. That we heal. That we care. That we love. And then, that we wake up the next morning and sign up for it all over again. - Jim Palmer, Being Jesus in Nashville: Finding the Courage to Live Your Life (whoever and wherever you are)
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:54:16 +0000
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