“Actually, Jesus was an alien,” I announced calmly.
I locked eyes with my Professor, who, at that very moment, fumbled for a suitable response to my statement.
The whole class went mute. We were Freshmen in college and hadn’t yet developed the requisite rowdiness of dirty-minded albeit sheltered co-eds. Greenhorns.
Yet, there I was, braces, Spice Girl blond highlights, with a tacky presupposition.
Foul!
Everyone avoided looking in my direction. But the angst towards me was palpable.
The whole class was mute, but I could hear their thoughts loud and clear:
quack quack quack quack quack
I shrugged, “Just saying…”
—–
I really didn’t mean to diss the class, my teacher, Jesus.
I got that it was a serious conference on Theological queries.
But I also failed to provide a context within which my tacky presupposition would have been deemed viable, or at the very least, un-tacky.
—-
Our family likes to discuss everything during meal times and once, my mom mentioned Erich von Daniken’s book, Chariots of the Gods. Basically what the book was trying to argue was that ancient astronauts (aliens!) came to Earth to transfer technology to ancient (read: backward) civilizations. That’s why the technologically complex pyramids were built and other mind-blowing things.
Even Moses’ Ark of the Covenant (a lowly wooden chest– at first glance) was presumed to have been a communication device (ala smartphone with built-in apps) with the alien race. Cozy.
So, recorded visions of supernatural, God-like creatures in the ancient world could have been … well, spacecrafts descending from the heavens. What else?
Honestly, I never bothered to read the book. That’s why I also wasn’t in the position to assert my tacky presupposition in class when all my classmates were ready with their well-crafted exegeses of the synoptic gospels, a.k.a. homework. And for this, I’m truly sorry.
—-
C.S. Lewis (of Narnia fame) was a devout Atheist before he became an even more devout Christian.
But even as he began to really comprehend and appreciate Christ, making Jesus present symbolically in his works (remember Aslan, our brave lion, the true king?), C.S. Lewis was never hard selling, slobbering us with guilt-inducing sermons.
I like the C.S. Lewis classic, The Abolition of Man, which makes us realize that morality –our standards of Good and Evil— is shared by all cultures and beliefs — Jew, Pagan, Taoist, East, West, aliens… and uhm Catholics (raise my hand).
However, while values are universal, each of us still has to learn how to recognize the Good from the Evil.
And this is where teachings come in.
A botched education can make children become men and women whose visceral parts (like those below the waist) and intellectual parts (mind, baby, mind) never meet. The trunk that should connect the mundane and spiritual does not materialize.
Hence, they are Men (and Women) Without Chests.
Easily manipulated, reduced into mere robots/clowns by a few.
And so The Abolition of Man.
Muscle without Courage.
Words without Meaning.
Existence without Significance.
Jesus could have easily been an alien.
Or not.
But certainly, he was ahead of his time.
Treating women as his equals.
Rebel.
Communing with outcasts and miscreants, lepers and (gasp!) the Bureau that slashes 30% from my monthly salary, religiously.
Badass.
Dabbling in alchemy and other magical stuff.
Irreverent.
He knew what was coming. He planned it all his way. God’s way.
It is written…
Most astoundingly, Jesus recognized the importance of teachings.
He also knew that humans — us— will not make much progress in two thousand years.
(just surf channels, browse the net on any given day hehehe)
And so he made sure to simplify the otherwise unattainable truths so that we may also be enlightened by them.
Stories.
Jesus was the greatest storyteller, donchathink?
P.S.
The Passion of Christ is a celebration as much as it is a remembrance.
You know that fuzzy feeling you get when somebody’s got your back.
I realize that the more I appreciate Christ, the more that I become open to others’ ideas, inclinations and ways of living.
The less I judge, the more I love.
Because really, there is no single key to the Truth.
As we celebrate the Risen Christ, my wish is that we would be blessed with grateful thoughts and enduring hearts as we continue to seek our purpose for Being and find our special place in the Greater Scheme of Things.
Happy Easter!
Cheers!
