Talkin' bout Jee---sus.

Spring is here in full force. I took the liberty of claiming the day for my own- concerned not at all about anyone else's agenda, I did exactly what I wanted to do. I drove around town, visited with some friends and took myself out to eat. I bought some art and some books. I could have gone to a drawing session, but I reveled in my own laziness. The only conciliation I'm making is this blog entry. And that means that this was a day well spent.

But nothing can ever be completely without complication for me, and so I took some time to think about Jesus. Yeah... that's right- Jesus Christ. Now I can imagine a collective groan, and a steep plummet in readers of this blog. Because that name right there is a buzz word(s). For most of my friends and loved ones it is a cue to shut off, turn the channel, and/or redirect attentiion elsewhere. I understand that, especially in our contemporary political climate. Many people don't want anything to do with Christianity. And the truth is that many of its adherents are sanctimonious blowhards. So for this reason, I'm hesitant to even mention the subject.

I'm not talking about faith here. I'm no "true believer" or fundamentalist. It makes no sense trying to discuss faith in a logical manner. It belongs somewhere else. I grew up going to church, but I have no connection to organized religion now. And I'm not interested in changing that. But having thus spoken, I must say that the concept of Jesus (Son of God) does intrigue me. And so does the historical context. And so does the lore and culture surrounding it. So unlike most of my people, I don't run the other way when I hear that name.

On one level, I conceive of Jesus as a revolutionary of his day. He was an ascetic, and the story goes that as a young man he upset the money-changers in the temple. Because he knew how his people's faith was being exploited. The goddamned guy sure seems like a socialist to me. He ws willing to put it all on the line and upset the power structure. He had the temerity to call out the Pharisees. But I think that's an aspect of his story that gets short shrift in this society. And that's a mighty shame, because we are surrounded by Children of the Pharisees. But see... in a Capitalist society, calling him a Marxist would be like calling him a child molester. So we'll leave that right there.

I also think about the historical Jesus as a kind of enlightened initiate. A man who, through his own experience with mistakes (sin) and flaws, found some special understanding. He became aware that he was part of God. And by God, I don't mean some stern patriarch with a flowing mane, who commands his worshippers to slaughter the infidel and take his/her land. Call it by whatever name you can identify it by (energy, spirit, the Tao). It simply means that there is something beyond yourself with which to connect. I believe Jesus was trying to spread this knowledge. I don't think he meant to put himself at the top of a hierachy of purity. Like us, he was a material being. But he was also concerned with getting beyond the limits of self. And he was one in a long line of folks that seem to pop up whenever we need to remind ourselves that we don't exist in isolation. But we've been damned by the distortions of those who have learned to use his story for their own selfish ends. And that's a shame.

There's no way to avoid the fact that Christianity is inextricably bound up with Western society. Pretending it's not there is not going to make it go away. Instead of reflexively tuning out whenever someone evokes his name, perhaps we should instead listen closely to what is being said behind the actual words that are being spoken. Maybe we should consider the context in which the Word is being used. Because it's ultimately a conveyance that can illuminate intention. Faith and neglect are partners in a complex dance of distraction and illusion.