Jesus lived a story and not a catechism.

Jesus’ life was not so much a repository of answers to doctrinal disputes as a source of the answer to all of life. It is a terrible mistake to think that God came into the world as Jesus of Nazareth for nothing more important than making sure we pass some kind of examination for eternal life. God came that we might have the abundant life. It is a life revealed not with hard and cold facts but with fluctuating and ever fluid stories.

I suppose this is why I so appreciate St. Mark’s story of the resurrection. Unlike the others, Mark leaves much to the imagination. In Mark’s account, there is no attempt to scientifically verify, nothing of Jesus being touched and probed, walking through doors, vanishing into thin air. There is only the empty tomb and three women running away in terror.

What happens next? This is where we come in. This is where our own imaginations merge with Mark’s and we begin to discover the truth of Jesus’ life and stories. This is where, if we have the courage, we too can begin to experience the gift of amazing grace, the wonder of unconditional love, the beauty of sacrificing for others. Christianity is not about understanding facts. It is about experiencing love. Jesus was not the Socratic teacher bent only on expanding the mind within the safe confines of academia. Jesus was the adventurer who called out as he raced off,

"Follow me!"