Answers? Nah. Questions? Yeah

A young Tulane (I'm assuming that, of course) called me a couple days ago, and we wound up in a 45-minute discussion on the fully divine/fully human aspect of Jesus. Really.

She peppered me with question after question, often using the Hebrew, sometime the Greek, quoting what a local rabbi had said about a practicing Jew would never have said he was God, Elohim. I came back with the Gospel of John's quoting of Jesus using the I am statements, which seem to me (and plenty of others) to be his declaration of who he was.

I finally said, after failing miserably about deciding which civilization came first Babylonian or Egyptian (if she had asked about Seattle and New England I could have stumped her!!!), I told her that in the end, to me, it comes not to councils that decided Jesus was divine as well as human, Godhead three in one and on and on among the many things I know but can't define completely. It comes down to a leap of faith, not a use of the brain, I said, for some things our own humanity can't quite get our brain around.

We finished by me asking her to come to our church for services.

I say all that to say this: I'm just a used to be writer/editor. Too often, that's my identity, as someone near to me pointed out yesterday. I'm barely clergy, being that strange humanoid called a local pastor that I've sort of come to despise at times for it leaves me in a bit of two worlds and in some ways of neither.

I don't know all the answers. I can't quote Greek or Hebrew without use of a book or two. I haven't had the class the young lady is taking nor could I stand up under the scrutiny of a rabbi or two.

I'm just a lonely blogger with a few readers from day to day, and sometimes I manage to make some furious on both sides of an issue, which I guess in the long run makes the piece a perfect one.

I'm just a guy who loves Jesus and fails about every other day on a good week. I'm just as broken as the next person, just as damaged as the one beyond that, and the only answers I truly know are my shoe size and my age, and as time has progressed, I have to work to remember both (and I'm pretty sure my foot is shrinking as I get older).

I have an aversion to scales, to taxes, to labels on people and to the Atlanta Falcons and on occasion to Ole Miss fans (long story there).

But I've never tried to hurt anyone, and I do still believe that any one in combat who defends our country is a special person but that anyone in combat has at one time or another if they are a deep thinker has had to at least think about Jesus saying love your enemy. Doesn't mean in combat one wouldn't have to kill. It means it is a serious, serious thing to take a life.

Nothing more was meant yesterday. I'm not anti-troops, at all. I am anti-war, but I understand why we do some of the things we do.

I'm just a lonely blogger with a few readers from day to day. I don't have all the answers. Never said I did. But I do pose questions. That's my completely unappointed job.