Who is this Jesus?

Papa Stratis of Lesvos

Jesus was born a Jew and died a Jew. Who is this Jesus who appears to us in  2016?  I sensed his presence in Papa Stratis on the Greek island of Lesvos.  U.N. representatives and and people like Papa Stratis are aiding refugees in their flight for life. Follow the link and you too can listen to the story of Papa Stratis.

Could it be that Jesus best comes to life everywhen and everywhere beings of every race, color, and tradition fuse into one community doing good to all beings and their environment?

A terrified child clings to a rock on the shore as a group of Syrian refugees arrive on the island after travelling by inflatable raft from Turkey. – Google Images

Who am I in 2016?  I am a 90 year old privileged white American.  Sometimes this status gives me an advantage over people less fortunate than I. If I deny others the contentment of a full life and its joys, I am less than Jesus to them; I do not love my neighbor as I love myself.

I am more.  I am also a fool; an old fool because I am old. But the story of my life may be that I have been a fool the greater part of my life. I could prove it with evidence.

Dr. Glenn Miller, author of the blog

I tell you now a brief story. One of my peers in the church took me to lunch to admonish me to be wise and retire quietly. I knew he was urging me to stop advocating for gays and lesbians. I chose to keep listening to them and kept advocating for anyone denied the right to belong. In the eyes of some who think they are wise I have been an ordinary fool.  It seems that a fool for Jesus has a special role in the Kingdom of God and exerts a certain quiet power in society. (That observation may disqualify me because some of my friends know it is difficult for me to keep quiet.) I give you a link to the blog of one of the quietest persons I know — Dr. Glenn Miller. Here is his most recent blog. Read it and take the gentle, wise way he prescribes.

Frightened people cry
Jesus invites them to come.
I will care for you