MELTING

I can't believe how quickly the snow has melted.  I certainly enjoyed it while it lasted,

Today we had planned to meet one of our old friend's from the Chapters writing group.  That was great fun , with very interesting people, while it lasted.  One girl was writing about her life in a motorcycle gang.  Pretty hot stuff!  Another guy wrote wried science fiction. Another very political stuff.  Dad's were the funniest and best I thought.  I looked at books and only once shared some experiences in my life.  Every Monday night off we would go for about two or three years and then it too just melted away.

The years seem to be flying by so quickly as our daughter Carol celebrates her birthday doing some exciting things exploring the Grand Cayman with her daughter Kim.  We hope we can skype her and actually see and hear her.

I was reading and thinking about the childhood of Jesus.  Some writers and investigators have discovered evidence that Jesus was treated as an outcast because of the uncertainty of who his father may have been; he would always be considered a child of doubtful fatherhood.  Because of this he would not be allowed to enter the local synagogue, because your ability to trace your lineage back to ancient Israel was of over whelming importance, in a time when they were occupied by foreigners.

It was decided, maybe by Mary, that she wanted to travel to the great temple of Jerusalem; this was considered the dwelling place of the Most High God; filled with the divine energy of God.  This was done accompanied by a large group of people who travelled about five days or more on this pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem.To enter one first had to be cleansed in a pool outside the gate.

Jesus entered with his family into this Holy place and this would be a most powerful experience for him.  He knew the importance of seeking answers to his questions from the experts in religious law.  His questions and deep thoughts raised him to be an equal with them.  Children can often see things clearer than adults.  It may have been at this time he realized a lot of the sadness he carried in his own heart, the sadness of not being allowed to enter the snyagogue in his own home town.

There are myths and stories about the childhood of Jesus performing miracles but really most of his early years are a mystery, and out of the mystery flowed myths.  Jesus, would later seek out John the Baptist, to continue to learn the way of living in a covenant relationship with Israel.

Did Jesus have a rebellious, venturesome spirit that came to life that day in the Temple?  The kingdom of  God became his passion and out of this passion came wisdom and a charismatic personality.  The light that was on John the Baptist would fade away as Jesus became the brighter more brilliant light.  He brought with his teaching a compassion, that being an outcast among his young peers, had taught him.  This would also explain why he was rejected when he would later return to Nazareth.

Jesus would drift away from his family to find his own identity and to discover what it felt like to have a soul alive to his Heavenly Father and to learn about life and love and friendship.