Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”.  However, most of the time we try to do that very thing.  When I talk to people about my thoughts on Christ, it is generally from the point of view that Christ is an open invitation and access to better thinking about what is possible as children of God (Light, Life, Truth).  I’ve noticed that we often only invite what Christ represents into our lives when we come to the edge of our own understanding and coping skills. Somehow, some way many of us have this notion that we can’t get to know Christ until we get our junk together not realizing that the power of the Christ that Jesus manifests is right in the midst of that junk.

Buddhists have this cool imagery of the lotus flower.  It’s this beautiful flower that emerges out of the nasty funky muckity muck of the swamp.  It’s right there in the junk.  Well, the very principle of Christ is that he is in the junk with us.  He stuck it out even unto death.  Talk about going out of your way for a friend. Have you ever had a friend who went out of their way to help you? Didn’t it feel good to know that you had a good enough friend that they would leave their place of comfort and come help you out?  Actually it probably didn’t feel great at all, because most of us don’t know how to receive help.

He feels the pain too

The better off the person is doing when they come to help us, the worse most of us feel.  Our brains polarize the situation and we start feeling like if they are in the “good” place then we must be in the “bad” place. That’s why many of us hang out with people that are in as difficult a spot as we are or people that are worse off than us. When it comes down to it, most of us like our heroes and heroines squeaky clean and far away from us. The higher they are “above us” the harder it is to relate and we get to keep our excuses.  How awesome is that? This is why when we find out that our heroes do human things we get so disappointed.  Well, I do not think Jesus is ashamed of humanity.  ALL POINTS TEMPTED!!!  Does that not say anything to us.  To me this means if we’re tempted, the Christ knows what it feels like when those sensations move through our bodies and wreak havoc in our minds trying to take us off the path to wholeness because he felt it too. The fact is, we cannot sympathize with someone we are ashamed of.  So either the verse  that says Christ sympathizes with us is off or we are when we see him as too far from us to be in our junk with us.  As for me, if I find myself in crisis, I know that Christ is right there with me.

Hebrews 4:15-16

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

sym·pa·thize [sim-puh-thahyz]