CowPi Journal

Tom writes “What Would Jesus Laugh About?”. I have always wondered if the apostles joked around a little with each other as they journeyed across the country side with Jesus.

I imagine Simon Peter got teased a bit by his friends in a good-natured way after he tried to walk on water toward Jesus (Matthew 14:22-33). How could one not smile when one of them linked his name Peter, which means “rock”, with water and sinking?

(FYI — I had changed the image in the sidebar to the “Laughing Jesus” before I had read Tom’s post. Coincidence?)

Recently talking to a colleague about parents and grandparents, I was reminded of my Grandpa Joe. He died in the late 1980s of old age. He slowly became senile in the last four or so years of his long and productive life. Born in 1899 in rural Kentucky just south of Lexington, he lived through all the technological changes of the 20th century—airplanes, indoor plumbing, radio, television, penicillin, the interstate system, landing on the moon, microwave oven, video tape, and two world wars. He told me once that he got a job because he told this man that if it could be drawn on paper, he could make it out of wood or metal. I used to love playing in his workshop.
The weekend of his funeral, I was amazed to learn that he had gone to seminary in the 20s in Cincinnati before he had married Grandma. That explained the stories my mom told me about visiting him in the nursing home every week. She said that he was always telling Bible stories and preaching to the nurses and other residents. On one hand, that seemed such a contrast to the grandfather I knew because I never once remember him telling us grandchildren any Bible stories in all the years I knew him. But on the other hand, Grandpa was such a gentle, honest soul.
I also found out that weekend that sometime in the late 60s or early 70s, Grandpa supposedly converted to Mormon. This riled Grandma’s feathers to the bone because she was Southern Baptist. I guess she managed to keep quiet about it in order to keep the peace. She eventually corrected the situation. Sometime before he died, I assume when he was senile enough, she had Grandpa re-converted back to Baptist.
I wonder what she would have said when I became Catholic? Oh well. 🙂
Until we meet again Grandpa and Grandma…pray for us.

From a Newsweek article titled “Visions of Jesus”, March 27, 2000 [via]:

Clearly, the cross is what separates the Christ of Christianity from every other Jesus. In Judaism there is no precedent for a Messiah who dies, much less as a criminal as Jesus did. In Islam, the story of Jesus’ death is rejected as an affront to Allah himself. Hindus can accept only a Jesus who passes into peaceful samadhi, a yogi who escapes the degradation of death. The figure of the crucified Christ, says Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, “is a very painful image to me. It does not contain joy or peace, and this does not do justice to Jesus.” There is, in short, no room in other religions for a Christ who experiences the full burden of mortal existence—and hence there is no reason to believe in him as the divine Son whom the Father resurrects from the dead.

Christ turned the world upside down to set the truth right side up.

Relax into the back of your chair,
      and take a slow, deep breath.
Let it out slowly.
Take a another slow deep breath.
Let it out slowly.
Concentrate on your breath as you breathe slowly,
      in and out, in and out.
Feel the air enter and fill your lungs.
Feel the air leave your body.
Relax the muscles in your shoulders.
Let them hang loose, relax.
If your leg or foot is bouncing, let it relax.
Let go of the tension in your muscles.
Breathe slowly in and out.
Let go of the tension in your body for the moment.
You think you own that tension, but you don’t.
It is not you. It is not who you are.
Continue to concentrate on the rythym of your breathing.
In and out.
For the moment, let go of your worries for today.
They will take of themselves in a little while.
Breathe slowly, in and out.
In this moment…just be.
We get so busy doing, we forget to be.
We forget we are human be-ings, not do-ings,
      made in the image of God,
      from love, in love, to love, to be loved.
Remember to concentrate on your breathing,
      slowly, in and out.
Each breath is a gift from God.
The feeling of the chair against your back is a gift from God.
The person next to you is a gift from God.
The people you encounter today are a gift from God.
You are a gift from God.
Continue to concentrate on the rythym of your breathing.
Continue to relax and just be…as we pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Thank you.
Thank you for the gift of life, the gift of being.
Thank you for Your love.
We often take it all for granted,
      just like our next breath.
We ask for your grace today, Lord,
      to remember to breathe today,
      to breathe in your love,
      and to breathe out your love to those around us.
We pray in your name.
We love you. Amen.

(I wrote this prayer for a faculty meeting.)