John 666

Jesus said some bizarre stuff. One of the most challenging and upsetting things he's recorded saying in the gospels is: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them." Jesus' disciples were so taken aback by this audacious language that it says "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.".

We know that Jesus wasn't speaking literally. He goes on to explain how our lives must become so deeply intertwined with his that there remains almost no distinction. That we "eat and drink" in remembrance of him and as a way of recalling and celebrating who he was and what he accomplished.

The point is: Following Jesus was never meant to be easy. I find ways to justify my luke-warmness every single day. I read that Jesus asks me to love others to the point of sacrificing my own life for them, yet I throw at fit when I'm slightly inconvenienced by someone or something. I'm far from a perfect, or even good, example of what it looks like to "follow Jesus". There is a serious disconnect between what I read in the Bible and what I live in my life.

This piece is a reminder to myself that I am a part of something much greater than myself, and that I have the distinct vocation of carrying forth and embodying a story that is as old as time, and will eventually swallow up time in it's wake.