Mrs. Charles Bliss

Now, I've had several changes of mind and spirit over the past few years- particularly since I've come to AriZona (or as I sometimes call it: "State AlphaOmega"). One of these revelations was Jesus. Now, Jesus is cool and everything, but Jesus has one short coming: He was a man.

Bah, I can hear the hate mail now (actually I can't, since no one ever sends me any... well there was this one time, but that was more against my theater company than anything else), but let me say my bit, and then you can comment if you wish. Now Jesus was a man, but he was also an idea. In fact, every man and woman is a collection of ideas- Jesus was unique in the fact that he had only One Idea, on which He based His entire life (Christian Capitalization is lame btw, so let's nip that in the bud now.)

So here's Jesus as I see him:
Jesus was born in a crappy barn
Jesus was teased as a kid
Jesus was mistreated as an adult
Jesus only had 12 friends- unless you count all the people that he basically had to feed and heal to even get their attention
Jesus got nailed to a cross (when his only crime was being the first decent person any one had ever seen)
Jesus said and I quote "Eh, whateves" (alright, that's not an actual quote)

The part that I think most people miss is that at ANY point in this entire span of time, Jesus could have destroyed every single atom that made up any of these jerks. So why didn't he? Because the entire Idea of Jesus is Forgiveness.

Alright, so people might be like "Yo, Max wtf, why you talkin' bout Jesus all the time?" and I will say this: because if anyone understands this point, they aren't really exercising it.
I can't really say that my Jesus is the same as the Mormon, or the Methodist Jesus, or the Catholic or the Muslim Jesus, because no one really seems willing to forgive ANYONE for ANYTHING ((And this disgusts me)).

I am willing to wager you, that YOU are clouded by hate- mentally and spiritually. You probably have things that you've never forgiven yourself for, and things you've never forgiven other people for-- and why? Is it really worth it to spend your 100 years (tops) that you're on this earth in such a negative space? No. I don't think so. So why don't we all grow up, and forgive ourselves right now? Why don't we all grow up and forgive our neighbors?

As I see it, there are two logical answers to the above questions: "Yeah, you're right, I guess we should do that!" and "Fear.". Well, as far as Fear is concerned: Honestly what do you have to be afraid of? Worst thing that can happen is death, and that's coming eventually anyway.

Now, let me say this: You are not who you want to be. You are not an Astronaut. You are not a Super Hero. You are not who you said you were going to be 10 years ago, and You are not fooling anyone. I know that you're bullshitting through life and so do you. But let's not be negative about it, because there..... is.... *drum roll*..... A- WAY- OUT- MAN! And it's forgiveness.

Forgive yourself for not being an Astronaut- Forgive yourself for not being Batman- not being an executive, and not looking like the cool kid on the block. Fear and Regret are not family values- and they are not values of any other kind either. Fear and Regret are bullshit- because DEEP down under all of that stuff that you are wearing: All of the fancy frills you wear to attract people of the other gender- All of the substances you use to make you feel complacent in the world- All of the small talk you use to open conversations- Underneath all of that there is a HUMAN SOUL- and THAT is something to be valued. THAT is what we are here to express- and if you don't then no one else will. And if you don't then you are an object of Fear and Regret.

So, personally, I am not here to say "Believe in Jesus" or "Don't Believe in Jesus" or "Go to Church" or whatever else you might think I'm here to say. I'm basically here to say "Try forgiving yourself, and everyone else and see if that doesn't make your world run a bit smoother."

(Also, Mrs. Charles Bliss is a character from the Spoon River Anthology- Look it up, I dare you.)