Surprise!

“Then I heard someone say, “You could choose life.”

Turning around, I didn’t see anyone. Then a brick wall appeared in front of me. It was tall, maybe twenty feet. A man looking much like Jesus Christ from the movie, Jesus Christ Superstar stood on the wall. He had long brown hair and wore a plain cloth robe tied at the waist with a rope. 

Looking down at me, he smiled and said, “You could choose life.” 

Jesus?

Then he threw a thick rope down to me and held onto the other end. “Come on. I’ll show you how to climb over the wall.”

Jesus? He looked too real to disbelieve.

“Come on. Grab the rope. I can help you change your life if you let me.” 

This excerpt is from my book. It was one of the most difficult parts for me to write about because though it happened, I wondered what my readers would think of me. Would my audience think I was off my rocker, a little crazy or under the influence of a psychedelic drug? 

Although I’d grown up in a religious environment, no one I knew had ever spoken about having any kind of personal encounter with Jesus. Instead, going to church, watching a televised Billy Graham crusade or saying the “sinner’s prayer” were all popular and acceptable religious activities of my childhood and young adult era. But, encountering Jesus, in the way that I did, well, it just wasn’t the norm. 

For a while afterward, I wondered if I should have discounted my experience because it was not what others encountered. But, I’ve chosen to count my experience as being real because from that point forward, I’ve been propelled to walk by faith. 

I like how Brennan Manning says that believers are like those who are exploring a country without borders and discover little by little that it is not a place, but a person. 

Consequently, my walk of faith is nothing that I can necessarily confine or define, rather, my walk of faith is my day in and day out response to the person of Jesus. 

Coming to Terms

So then, it was little by little that Jesus revealed to me my need to forgive those who offended me. God knows I was a wounded individual who had tried their best to survive their woundedness. I’d survived, but by the qualities necessary to survive; self-reliance, fortitude and persistence. Admirable, but not necessarily necessary when one is no longer having to survive. 

I no longer live by those survival skills. Instead, I’ve entrusted myself in the irrefutable knowledge that Jesus is the blessed controller of all things, not me. 

Why Bother?

Why bother being taken by surprise? Jesus is not someone whom we can confine or define. Therefore, we will be surprised.  

You can read the whole story of my journey to forgiveness in my book, A Heart’s Journey To Forgiveness found at Redemption Press and Amazon. Also, please accept my invitation to you to attend the next Emotional Healing Through Forgiveness© workshop on Saturday, April 26, from 4-7 p.m. at the YMCA.