Happy Jesus' birthday celebration week!

Happy Jesus' birthday celebration week!

Over 150 comments? Time for my weekly wall o' text, then.

:/

I was raised in the heart of the Bible Belt, but in the sedate old-fash Episcopal church in which I was raised, we weren't Bible-heavy. Religion also wasn't touched on much at home, except for saying Grace at mealtime. Mom wanted us to attend church so we did. Dad didn't, except the Holidays.

Every week, the communion service included readings from the Gospels and the Epistles. The best part of the service for me (other than the end of it) were the readings from the Gospels. I loved Jesus from an early age, what I knew of him.

But readings from the Gospels don't really tell the story.

By mid-college years, I'd read and heard a lot of pro and con about Jesus, Christianity, and faith. Remember The Passover Plot? I knew the Christian teachings, but I didn't and don't necessarily buy into them all. But I wanted to know more about Jesus.

So, I first read the Gospels through for myself at 19. When I was done I had two peculiar thoughts: one, I understood at last what all the excitement was about for two thousand years, and, two, how come nobody ever told me about this? Heh.

The power of words: When I was finished, I was permanently persuaded that Jesus lived, that he said, and did, (most of) what he's reported therein to have done, including raising the dead and rising from the dead, and that he was, as he claimed, "Son of God." It's what they killed him for, after all.

Jesus I believed, but I've never been a Bible absolutist or Christian Fundamentalist. After reading the Gospels, I felt like I needed to know still more. I wondered if I ever would. Figured, probably not in this life.

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