My Brother, my Friend - Week 3 Lenten Reflections
I’m reflecting on the connection between "Jesus loves me" and what came next in the formation of my faith, where I began to understand Jesus as “My Brother, My Friend”. There's growth in that realization, because for a young mind, after a time of hearing those words in a myriad of context, understanding that "Jesus loves me", can be challenging. Love isn’t tangible; it often feels insubstantial when spoken casually, and that is often the case. By the time I began my teenage years, the statement that Jesus loves me, simply wasn’t enough. What did that really mean?
I’m, by no means, saying that Jesus’s love isn’t significant— at that time, it was just difficult for me to comprehend its depth. Understanding God’s love is challenging without the physical representation found in Jesus's life. In my youth, this was a frequent thought, and I eventually found clarity through a para-church organization called Young Life.
First though, to put things in context, this was 70’s. Generally speaking, the Jesus Revolution began in the 60’s and early 70’s on the west coast, and spread throughout the U.S. and Europe before subsiding in the 80’s. I recall points of emphasis at this time including, being “saved” and “born again”. This was accomplished through following the “4 Steps to Salvation”. Campus Crusade kicked off the “I Found It” campaign. Mega Churches were popping up everywhere. CBN started in the late 60’s and tele-evangelist peaked. The Gospel message was even presented through the Rock Opera’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Godspell” and were extremely popular. By the way, this was also the time period that “Bible Churches” became a thing in the U.S. and with it, the only doctrinal statement affirming the “inerrancy and literal interpretation” of the Bible coming from the “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” in 1978.
Additionally, and perhaps most
importantly to my thinking at the time, was the concept of Jesus being my “personal
Lord and Savior”. This was often
explained by saying that if I were the only person on earth, Jesus would have
sacrificed himself on the Cross in order to save me. (a lot to unpack there – and too much for
this reflection) And, on top of that, I
needed to develop a “personal relationship” with Jesus. Hmmm.
What had become a concern for me during these teenage years, is that there had to be something more to be found, or known, than “Jesus Loves Me”. If others had “found it” than I wanted as well.
It is in this context that I began to develop my personal relationship with Jesus. A parachurch organization, Young Life played a critical roll in developing that new understanding of the role that Jesus, and the Teachings of the Way, played in my life. The young adult, young adult Young Life leaders great and I was fortunate to get to know some of the musicians that volunteered with Young Life who would write and perform some songs that perfectly spoke to my journey. Tony Congi and Bill McCoy, lead singers of the local band, Aslan, wrote “My Brother My Friend” and “Blessed Are” which really spoke to me. I can hardly read the Gospels anymore without imagining the full context, with all the senses – sound, sight, touch, smell and taste – of the time and place in which they traveled. The life of Jesus became real to me.
Blessed Are: by Aslan
Crying to the people round
Open up your ears my friends
Hear the words I’m settin’ down
Blessed are
the poor in spirit
Blessed are
the one who care
Listen closely
you can hear it
The quite voice of God is everywhere
Gathered around a glowing
campfire,
looking on the Masters face,
He speaks the words of timeless
mysteries,
The only truth that time cannot erase
People come from everywhere
Just to hear his words and see
Is this the one the prophet
spoke of
The one who comes to set the whole world free
I realized that Jesus had lived a
life just as I, with a mother, and father, brothers, and maybe sisters. He was
a traveler – a sojourner, had friends, laughed, ate, smelled, went out into the
desert, and prayed. I could imagine all the things that made him feel good
during the day and, at times, not feeling so good—grieving or just feeling sad.
Empathy became real as I read and studied the circumstances and events that
Jesus was experiencing through his ministry, even experiences that would affect
my life these 2000 years later.
If my childhood years imprinted on me that Jesus Loved Me, my teen years helped me to begin to understand the depth and meaning of that love.
In the English language, the
single word love, can mean many things to many people. It’s use is often incredibly casual. In the Greek language, there are at 4 words
that encompass love. Philia
expresses the love a close and true friend – Storge, the love of family
– Eros – a romantic love and, the most intense and encompassing of all love,
is Agape – the perfect, unconditional love – the love that comes from
the heart of God.
My Brother, My Friend - by Aslan
I get the strangest kind of feelings
Whenever you are near
You just reach out your hand to touch
me
And you chase away my fear
You’re as close as the earth beneath me
And as lofty as the sky above
No pain can ever reach me
When I’m restin’ in your love, ‘cause…
You’re
my brother, you’re my friend
You’re
my beginning and my end
You’re
all around me when the world
Would turn and walk away, ‘cause
You’re
my sunshine on a cloudy day
You’re
the rain to wash my blues away
I
can always count on you, cause
You’re my brother, you’re my friend
They say that wise men seek you
And prophets spread your name
Some claim you are a wizard
Who could heal the blind and lame
Some say you’re just a pipe dream
Or an old man’s fantasy
But they have never know you
And their eyes have never seen, that…
The 70’s were huge for me. I am filled with gratitude for those years, as I am also filled with gratitude for my Church family at the time, the ministry of Young Life and to the individual mentors who were there for me as my faith was forming. I especially am grateful for their gentleness and patience as I sought answers and for allowing me to “seek the Kingdom of God”, trusting in the promise that when we seek, we will find.
And so… well, we are barely getting started… See you next week.
Aslan, It’s Amazing can be found at Amazon Prime Music, as
well as Spotify. It really is
Amazing! Check it out.
Comments
Post a Comment