In my current state I'm reminded of something my Aunt caught my Uncle saying to himself, in his deep country/southern accent, as he was walking through the house, "So many thoughts running through my head."
I really dig that. But I am grateful that a lot of the thoughts I have running through my head these days are positive ones. I am a cynic with a propensity towards melancholy, so it's a weird joy to be having thoughts of gratitude, encouragement and hope running through my head.
And I believe that my current state has much to do with my parents, wife and friends praying for me. Prayer does change things.
In fact I've been pondering how the author of Hebrews describes Jesus continually praying for us before the father. I'm often suspicious of Jesus. I often see him with blond hair, effeminate gestures and the pompous philosopher style of someone that was too good for this world. It's been bred into me by all the artistic renderings we have of him here in the west.
But I believe those artists must have been demon-possessed. Jesus is all-together earthy. He is all-together for the empty and down-trodden. And I believe he is someone, that if I met face to face today, I would not want to let go. I'd be inviting him over to have dinner, see the kids, meet Melissa, and he'd probably be treating us all to our new favorite frozen yoghurt place for desert.
I believe his thoughts on life would be challenging but not judgmental. I believe that they'd be fueled by a real playfulness and joy that would make chasing his thoughts attractive. I believe that his thoughts would create in me more thankfulness, more joy, more hope and I believe I would be undone by his kindness and earthiness. I also believe he would do a lot of listening, the kind of active listening that shows when someone really cares.
After all, in Jesus God became small and insignificant. He became one of us. He ate with us, played with us, challenged us, healed us and ultimately invited us to live a full life.
I take myself way too seriously with "So many thoughts running through my head." And I think Jesus would encourage me to slow down, fill me with new thoughts and help me relearn how to think about this thing we call life. And I imagine he'd be good with jokes. So good indeed he'd have me snickering snot all over the place.
Perhaps that would be the most profound thing Jesus would bring. His humor. That's why I think he would like the painting above.
