A Dark Child — From Adventures of the Child Jesus
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Jesus was a dark child. Darker than most. And slight. Not small but one of those sorts who can eat and drink a good deal and gain no weight. It is said to be a metabolic thing. He was neither popular nor unpopular and in fact was rarely the object of anyone’s attention.
The most conspicuous thing about him was his consuming interest in what we call religion. Almost from the beginning, his interest seemed to be in altering what religion was. He had no desire to be one of the men he found around the synagogue, whose conversations he audited with a critical ear.
Today he might be called a geek. Certainly not a jock. He recoiled from the language other boys used in the company of girls. Joking and ribbing had no appeal. He was transfixed by the beauty of faces, seen more in girls than boys.
“Why are people troubled?” he asked Abba. He was close to the top of the hill. The wind kicked up. He gathered his robe about him.
“Life is life,” Abba replied. “How you approach it is what makes the difference. People who are troubled all the time have stopped.”
“I see. Does it change?”
“Often not. People go for years without stopping to think, to do what you do naturally.”
“Why?”
“They know their lives would change. They fear change more than being troubled.”
“Strange,” Jesus said.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“Many people have no faith in themselves. They look for a savior, someone outside them who can make things right.”
The sun was setting. These conversations were continual. To Jesus they were the center of life. They made all the difference.
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Stephen C. Rose has written a number of books (Fiction/Non-fiction). You can tweet him here.
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