Disclaimer: The Pizzaonian Council of Monks (PCM) and pizza conglomerate, Pizza digogo DiVinci are concerned when a prominent and respected figure in Pizzaonian politics like Brother Giovanni engages in an activity many Pizzaonians consider weird at best and psychotic at worst.
However, in the interests of full disclosure, we support The Pizzaonian’s decision to publish these letters and conversations between Brother Giovanni and the man he calls “Jesus.” Sister Veronica, Supreme Pizzaonian
As you can see by the disclaimer, many Pizzaonians are concerned by my continuing exploration of the “Letters from Jesus” columns.
The continuing controversy in Pizzaonia centers on the person of Jesus. I am not concerned about Jesus Christ, the son of God. That has been well established by the theology of the Christian faith.
The question I am most concerned with is - Who is Jesus, the man? Most of us relate to the “Jesus” of the Bible, but like some Pizzaonians, I am equally concerned about the man, Jesus – the person that lived then as we do now, and while on his life’s journey discovered his destiny was to become “The Christ.” The writers of the New Testament, tell us about Jesus, the man, after the fact. However, who was he, before he became the “Christ?”
It seems so many of us presume that somehow he knew from the beginning who and what he was to become. I don’t believe that – it seems to me his life was a road to discovery just as ours is today.
To be anything else takes away the majesty of his journey. If he were truly human, like we are today, his encounters and personal frustrations were similar to those we encounter daily through life. As we fully appreciate the significance of this, we come to appreciate more completely his experiences. Before he became the "Christ" he first was the man on his way to becoming the “Christ.” Sharing the fullness of his humanity with all of its frailties makes his life and choices more emotionally meaningful for each of us.
Just imagine if we were in his place. How do you summon the courage to say yes to your Father in heaven? Do we ever consider the notion that he could have said, No? Impossible you say - on the contrary, I believe it was not only possible, but that he actually considered it as a choice that he had to make.
Not only could he have said no, just as we often say no to what is expected of us, he was also fully aware of what saying no really meant.
Sooner or later, we are all confronted with the one decision that leads us to the reason for our being. I am aware that this very statement is controversial in its own right. However, from a Christian perspective, it seems clear to me that we have all been given talents that frame what our main purpose in life is to be. For some, this may come early in life – for others it is a process that requires time and experience for our destiny to become evident.
It is important to remember finding our life’s purpose is a process. Many other related decisions may have come first – each one a prelude to the final decision that encompasses in its entirety the phrase, “your will be done.”
We all will have this critical moment when we have to choose, just as Jesus had to choose. What made Jesus’s decision all the more remarkable is that in the Garden prior to his arrest, he knew what his decision would personally mean with all of its physical and spiritual consequences. Now if we believe at this critical moment he had some special insight from his Father that helped make his decision easier, we would miss the totality of his “humanness.”
Not to understand his complete humanity with all of his doubts when facing his final decision to say “yes” is to miss the enormity of this particular moment in history. This was the moment when the man, Jesus, with free will, took the first step in his journey to becoming “The Christ.”
Brother Giovanni, commenting for Giovanni and Franco.Com, a division of the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, Diverti Mento, editor
To be continued:
Amazing photo
Posted by: patrick | 06/30/2017 at 02:47 AM