The Wee Democracy

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when i was younger, much younger, and my mom, sister, and i were crammed into my sister's bed, having a bed time story, i looked over to the wall. there was a little green ribbon.

I asked Jesus how much he loved me

He said "This much"

And He stretched out his arms and died.


i thought about that then, when i was maybe six years old, and it made me cry. just uncontrollably. even now, it makes me choked up. i was raised catholic, and i knew all about what had happened. to a six year old, death is pretty horrific and the thought that someone died for the love of me was overwhelming.

i hadn't thought about that little ribbon in so many years, but i thought about it today, as i sat in the theater, watching it unfold. i remembered that phrase and back the tears came. to see it portrayed so graphically, with an unflinching eye, speaks to a jaded, cynical, 23 year old who doesn't think about religion all that much at all, and has the same relative effect as it had back then.

anyone who really knows me knows that i'm not all that religious, and that my main motivation for seeing 'the passion of the christ' wasn't going to have much to do with my role as a semi-christian. i'm not saying to go see it for evangelical reasons, not to save your soul, or change your life, or convert you to christianity.

it doesn't matter whether or not you're christian, whether or not you believe that jesus was actually the son of god, the messiah sent to save us all, sent to forgive us our sins. all that aside, jesus died for a profound unimaginable love of mankind. that cannot be denied. that, i guess, is the reason for the powerful and generally atypical reaction i got when i first read that phrase, and when i was reminded of it again today.



feeling: good
thinking of: nothin' really
song of the day: you can't always get what you want - rolling stones