The man, the myth, the legend

There is no confirming video or photographic evidence that Babe Ruth ever pointed his bat towards the outfield bleachers mere moments before depositing a homerun in the same location.  Truth of the matter is; there doesn’t need to be.  In his time, Babe Ruth was larger than life and was constantly followed around by photographers and reporters.  He didn’t tie his shoes without it getting written down in some article or another.  All America needed was to think that he did this and the story spreads like a wild fire.  People begin to tell it as if they were there, they swear by it, even embellish it, and all of a sudden, Babe Ruth becomes a god.  This is what we are dealing with when we talk about Jesus, the legend.  The guy walked on water, healed the sick, raised the dead, turned water into wine, and the list goes on.  If you start spreading stories like that for a few generations, it’s no wonder we created a religion around the man. 

                The man, Jesus of Nazareth, walked this earth some 2000 years ago.  That is historical, scientifically proven fact.  Bible scholars from all walks of life agree to this point.  We also have some proof that he was baptized in the Jordan River, and among other facts of his life, he was crucified on a cross (or some variation of a cross).  There is not however, much of his story that we can say to be factual.  The rest of what we have come to believe about Jesus is mostly myth.   Let’s take a closer look at what this might mean.

                The story of Jesus’ birth is commonly referred to as the nativity story, and the real origin of our Christmas story.  We believe, although we can say with much certainty that Jesus was not born on December 25, there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn and they were forced to give birth to their baby in a manger.  We believe the three wise men came for great distances following a star in the sky to bring gifts, and so on and so forth. I wonder how our beliefs about Christmas would change if this story wasn’t true?  Do we, as a Christian culture, believe that the story is true in the first place?  I am not completely sure about the latter, but I have a strong belief that regardless of the factual evidence of the story, our society believes so strongly in Christmas and it has evolved into such a self-sustaining entity, that the facts don’t matter. 

                I must digress back to my original point, and that is not of Christian holidays, but that of the savior Jesus.  We know he existed.  Much of our beliefs from there are circumstantial.  What I find so fascinating now is how we got to this point.  Is it possible that we have turned a man into a god simply by our words?  Is it blasphemous for me to suggest that this person, of whom we describe as one-third of the Trinity itself, is there not because he was god in the flesh, but because we made him that way?  Or is it this Christ presence that we have yet to discuss that gave him an insider’s edge to God?

The Christ in Jesus fully expressed into manifestation in the real world, that of the Absolute.  The Christ, the fully realized potential in man that you and I possess and strive to express in our own lives, was embraced by Jesus and, as an example of god’s perfect expression, breathed into existence so that we may see and experience what it is like to live that true expression.              

This is where I throw my hands up and say it truly doesn’t matter about the validity of the stories.  I know that because I see Jesus as an example of the living, indwelling Christ within me and everyone I come in contact with.  No matter how you view it one thing is constant throughout the ages and remains true today: we, as humans are powerful beings.  Whether we have created this story and perpetuated it for thousands of years or whether one man fully expressed the potential that every man or woman has within each of them, we are more powerful than we could ever imagine.