Where is Jesus today?

In this Psuedo-religious world of "spirituality" today it seems as if Jesus has been relegated to a game of "Where's Waldo?" and in my opinion the more the "spiritualists" try to find Him the more rediculous they become.

Take, for example, the lady in Chicago recently. Her story has been on every one of the local news stations and probably some National ones as well. It seems that while she was very despondant, Jesus showed up in a very unusual place. As she was using the "facilities", yes, setting down on the commode, the image of Jesus appeared in the wood grain on the bathroom door! Now, I saw the door that they showed on the news and the only thing that I saw was where the hollow cut door had been pieced together so that the wood grain was symetrically reversed. I could see where someone that spent way to much time in the bathroom could see a "face" in the arrangement of the wood grain but Jesus? I don't think so.

I do have some advice for this lady, though. 1. Get some good Fiber, or, 2. Get some reading material for the facilities.

Take this past winter in Chicago for example. Under a Viaduct on the express way, on one of the local streets, Jesus appeared in a salt stain that had surfaced through the cracks in the concrete. It was a big deal. They set up a makeshift shrine, complete with City barricades and protection. Funny thing is that the spring rains washed it all away. Any half baked theologian can tell you that 2000 years ago, Pilate found out that the real Jesus couldn't be washed away.

Now me, I'm probably not that spiritual. You see, I believe that Jesus shows up every day of our lives if we will really look for Him. In fact, He shows up every day IN our life if we are believers. No, not in bars of soap, turtle shells, grilled cheese sandwiches or any of that nonsense but He shows up in peoples actions, attitudes and behaviors if we let Him.

I saw Him this week at the Funeral of Violet Gwaltney. I had the privilege of conducting that service and ministering to a family that had seen their Mom, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and loving wife go through a physical hell of sorts, with Alzhiemers and Cancer. There they all were, dealing with their grief and their questions but in the midst of it all, every one of them at different times came to me privately and enquired how my Father was doing. I was happy to report that he was doing well in his recovery but the point is that, that is Jesus showing up. Being concerned for others in the midst of your own grief, that's a God thing.

The thing that is so often overlooked is this. Jesus is never hard to see, it's just that we don't always recognize Him. Maybe if this "spiritualistic" world would stop looking for His image in everything that is out there and start concentrating on letting His image shine through them, maybe, just maybe they won't have such a hard time recognizing Him in the simple things.