Are You a Walking Jesus?

“When we spend time with Jesus, we become like Him.”

While on a business trip, my son struck up a conversation with the gentlemen sitting next to him on the plane. He was a Protestant minister from Uganda who traveled throughout the United States and Canada raising money to fund the multiple works of corporal mercy his not-for-profit organization engaged in within his native land.

During the course of their chat, my son told the pastor about my blog, my books and of my Lay Dominican vocation. He did not fully understand everything Joe told him and asked my son a few questions trying to get the information he was seeking. After chatting back and forth for a bit, he turned to Joe and asked him bluntly, “But is your father a walking Jesus?”  The question caught my son by surprise. After pausing for a bit, my son answered honestly “I wouldn’t say that.”

No matter how highly I have foolishly come to think of myself at times, I have never lost sight of the fact that I remain an obstinate sinner and flawed man. I love my son for sharing this experience and answering the good pastor’s question honestly, even though hearing of their exchange felt like I had been hit by three 2 by 4s. The truth about oneself can be a painful but vital call to change.

I do love the “Hidden Jesus’ I visit regularly and cannot imagine what my life would be without Him.  Thanks to my son’s encounter with the Ugandan missionary, I have been given a stark reminder of an often-forgotten truth: When I leave my “Hidden Jesus” in the tabernacle, everyone I encounter must see Jesus in the way I live my life. If not, I have cheated them and my loving Lord.

 “When we spend time with Jesus, we become like Him. Why are we not encouraged to do so?”

I am one person who needs to be visiting Jesus more often. How about you?