UPFRONT April 23, 2007 Issue

Meeting Jesus

PATRICIA KADICK, STAFF EDITOR

My first encounter with Jesus was in listening to ABC Radio broadcasts of The Greatest Story Ever Told. We didn't go to any church at the time, and Jesus was someone I'd never heard of before. Yet no matter how inviting the summer evening air might be to my six-year-old heart, I'd sit glued to that radio.

A couple of years later, Christian Science—with its elucidation of the Christ as the spiritual, eternal presence of God—brought healing and profound spiritual regeneration to our family, and it seemed to me as if the sun would always shine.

But it wasn't until much later, as an adult actually, that I again felt the awe and delight of those childhood meetings with Jesus. I'd somehow lost sight of him. Now I began to imagine myself wading in the Sea of Galilee as his boat came closer and closer, or feeling the hot sun and swirling dust when I ran with a crowd simply to get a glimpse of him. Whether he was tall or short, dark or light in color, I knew he'd have been a standout. Calm and poised, knowing himself and why he'd come, he'd have shone with love and laughter, discerning with grace and intelligence what everyone needed, loving his Father God above all else.

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