Jesus is My Guy

When you collect spiritual teachers as if they’re butterflies or stamps, it’s easy to be considered a bit of an addict. Take Wayne Dyer. Add Eckhart Tolle. Discover Thich Nhat Hanh. Around and in between are Denise Linn, Brian Weiss, Deepak Chopra, Gregg Braden, Louise Hay, and a heavenly host of others, including – believe it or not – Albert Einstein. There are others whose names are lost to me now, though what nuggets of wisdom they dispensed at the time have likely become part of my present day vernacular. But it started with Jesus.

He was the first of my spiritual teachers, though what I learned in church wasn’t so much about him as it was about following the rules in order to be worthy of his sacrifice. He was not presented as a teacher. He was the Son of God and I was the sinning scum whose hopeless imperfection doomed me to eternal darkness, except he gave his life to ensure my ticket to heaven. He was a remote figure, an icon used to keep me humble, obedient, and paying my tithe. I was told that Jesus loved me ... but only if I behaved. Did I resent that message? Sometimes. Did I blame Jesus?

Doesn’t matter. Compared to Ter, I was a Philistine. She actually knew the gospel. You couldn’t fool her with doctrine. She embraced the religion, but she didn’t really need it because she is a naturally spiritual person. Despite being from a distinctly non-religious family, she has felt close to Jesus since she was tiny. She is fascinated by the time in which he lived, by the historic and archaeological evidence of his existence, and by the lost gospels conveniently kept out of the Bible. She’s read lots of books and watched countless documentaries. She speaks of him with familiarity and genuine affection, but never, ever, with disrespect. His position in her spiritual pantheon is unshakeably secure. Her regard for him is wonderful and amazing and inspiring. It also borders on the comical when she happily announces that her Jesus package is on its way from Amazon and she hopes it arrives by the Easter weekend. “Your ‘Jesus package’?” I ask, arching a sardonic eyebrow.

She’s sparkling in her seat. “Yep! The 40^th anniversary edition of Jesus of Nazareth, and (three other films).” The titles escape me at this writing, and the package, alas, did not make it by the Easter weekend.

Let me be clear. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what Jesus taught. In fact, everyone on the planet throughout history, now, and in the future should follow what he taught because what he taught pretty much aligns with what Mohammed and the Buddah taught, which is to practice the higher virtues of honesty, kindness, tolerance and charity. These virtues were on the spiritual Hit Parade long before Jesus was born. He didn’t invent them. He practiced them. He lived them to the best of his ability in a world as chaotic then as it is crazy now, and his hope was –I believe – to impress upon his disciples the importance of carrying them forward after he was gone. It’s not his fault that things went seriously sideways within a generation of his death, or that the religion spawned in his name has fragmented and festered over centuries. The message is still out there, but Jesus’ association with it is no longer so prevalent.

During one of our spontaneous Philosophy Quests, Ter and I fell into a discussion of what I call our “guru collection”. I occasionally wonder about the vast cast of principals in our pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, and Ter had clearly been pondering the same thing when she said, “At the end of the day, which one do I choose?”

“Do you have to choose one?” I asked. “Their philosophies are almost identical. Every day has a new spin, so what’s wrong with having a guru du jour?”

We talked about common elements and different points of view. After all, every philosopher has a unique perspective compared to other philosophers, though the subject is always the same. We pick out the pertinent info and apply it to our own philosophies. In the end, we hope we make the world a better place by practicing what we learn.

A lot of what we learn, no matter who we learn it from, is the same. Honesty, kindness, love, forgiveness and compassion. “So,” Ter concluded when we had talked ourselves full circle, “it’s okay if I quote Dr Wayne today and Jesus is my guy tomorrow.”

I laughed, but I think she’s right. Jesus is her guy. Her reverence for him has lasted her entire lifetime. She has shown me to appreciate him, to respect and revere him, by making him real. I suppose some might see it as a demotion for the Son of God to be made human, but referring to him in the familiar hardly negates his historical importance. He was a hugely influential figure with a massive destiny and daunting purpose to his short time on earth. I think of him a lot and I think a lot of him—certainly more than I did when I went to church. Without Ter’s example, such would not be the case.

I’m glad of it. I guess he’s kind of my guy, too. I hope he’s okay with that.