Every year I read The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. It is a novel about a young man facing huge crises in his life, and after a car accident he finds himself traveling through time. He is met by various historical figures, each one giving him a piece of valued advice.
He meets Presidents Truman and Lincoln, Christopher Columbus and Anne Frank among others. That book is one of my favorites, but it always leaves me thinking, “With whom would I like to meet and share a few moments of discussion?”
Like the character in the book, I would love to meet Truman and Lincoln, and probably John Adams, Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky and maybe even comic Phyllis Diller, whose movies made me laugh as a kid.
But there is no one I would rather sit down and speak with than Jesus. With all the division, controversy, and threats of violence this world faces, I would love to have “lunch with Jesus” so to speak – to hear what he would say, and also ask his advice on how I could help heal these divisions by living a better life. But actually, I know his words to me would not deviate from what has already been recorded in the Bible.
I love Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters 5 – 7). In it, he voices some strong demands when he states, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Through the years, these words have been a rebuke to me when I have been less than loving to others, and a comfort when I’ve been verbally attacked.
As a Christian Scientist, I take the words and works of Jesus to be the saving grace that can bring healing to the destructive disputes and violence that plague our country and our world. The Son of God presented the answer to every problem we face and promised, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed…”
If you’re disturbed by world events or personal issues and would like to have lunch with a wise and caring friend, open the Bible and have lunch with Jesus – by reading his beloved Sermon, and letting it have an impact on you and your actions. The healing of the world begins with each of us.
