PART OF MY JOURNEY for this Lenten season seeks to become more acquainted with Jesus the Christ. Growing up in a Christian home and exposed to various expressions of the Christian faith (from Young Life to Baptist to Presbyterian to Vineyard to Covenant) within the realm of Evangelicalism, I held the image of Jesus as the friend who knows me best, all the while loving me for who I am in his friendly, inviting and comforting way. It’s not a bad way to grow up, for sure.

In my widening understanding of how others see Jesus, I realize that while my image of Jesus is warm and cozy, I limit the depth of who Jesus is in my life and the world at large. In reading the gospels, part of my Lenten journey, I’m confused at times, comforted at other times, and even angry with wanting certain circumstances to be different than what they are within the Jesus story. As a result, I ask this question: If I’m held in God’s story, what does Jesus have to do with that story?

As my heart and mind expand in my desire to deepen my connection to God, I travel a journey I’m not expecting. Rather than the childhood familiarity with Jesus as my best friend, I get a bit lost as to what to hold onto and what to let go of. Who is Jesus? And what does it mean that Jesus is the Christ? Roaming through theology to sociology to spirituality, I notice something stirring. In my increasing desire to know a fuller, more nuanced Jesus, could this Jesus challenge my assumptions and perceptions that hide the Mystery of God incarnate? Perhaps as I seek to know Jesus the Christ, I may know more of God’s story in more profound and richer ways while also staying in the uncomfortable liminal space of not knowing.

That’s part of my journey.