J is for Jesus

I had planned to write about the vegetable, jicama in keeping with my food-themed A-Z writing project which has now gone woefully unpopulated due to my current gardening obsession. ‘Had my jicama salad recipe all ready to go and photos were taken, but then yesterday while sorting through some older digital photos, I came across a photo that changed my J word. It’s a photo I took a few years ago of a wooden-carved bust of Jesus. It must be a sign I kid myself as today is Palm Sunday, the celebration of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. What could be more perfect? And so today, J is for Jesus!

The carving came into my life this way: We were living in Nebraska on our country property not far from the town of Seward. I’m driving down the gravel road past the old farm where Jack’s mother once taught school when I come up to the intersection at the highway and see this:

I thought it odd, of course; how often do you see a carving of Jesus sitting on a post along the highway for no reason whatsoever? I knew that it wasn’t a marker for someone killed in a car crash at this spot because I would have heard about it living so close by and besides that, I took this route to town almost every day and it was never there before. I tell myself I’ll stop and pick it up on my way back from town if it’s still there. Sure enough, hours later, it’s still there. I take it home and put out feelers to the community to see if anyone knows where it came from and why it ended up on the side of the road. No luck. I decide to keep it as a reminder of how weird and mysterious life can be.

While my knowledge of Biblical teachings is scanty and my faith a private matter, this passage often comes to mind when I contemplate the message Jesus brought to the world, “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Words to ponder this Easter season. Peace be with you all dear friends.