Jesus at CNM
The Voyage: Chapter Seven
Jesus on Earth
Raj walked down the street towards the little theater at the Community College. The whole campus was abuzz. He watched students scurrying ahead of him, one girl panting as she passed him, running to catch up with a friend. He listened to the excited comments around him. Word had spread like wildfire that there was a guest speaker in the Coal Avenue Theater, and it was Jesus Christ himself!
Of course, by now everyone knew he had returned to earth. It was impossible not to know, with his face being plastered on the news every night for the last week. His every movement was shadowed and scrutinized. Locally, in Albuquerque, 770 KKOB had taken to following their “Weather and Traffic on the 7s Report” with updates about him, along with speculation about where Jesus was, where he had been, and where he was going next.
Raj speeded up as he passed the Max Salazar building. I am not going to make it inside if I don’t hurry, he thought. He broke into a jog and then sprinted towards the JS building, and then to the theater, which was just across the street. An increasing stream of students ran with him. He was breathless when he finally crowded up to the door and shoved his way in.
Jesus was standing on the stage. Every seat was filled, and Raj saw people sitting on laps and others pressed against the walls. Jesus was wearing blue jeans and a Lobos tee-shirt. His colorful, square-toed cowboy boots looked new and custom made, like the kind Raj saw advertised on television last night from the Back At The Ranch Company up in Santa Fe. Jesus had sent him to get a room in Albuquerque while he stayed with friends in the area, and Raj had taken the bus over to hear his speech at the school. He edged his way in and stood behind two girls wearing yellow scarves with red logos of some kind. Raj recognized the girl who had run past him, panting. The two were whispering to each other.
“I am going to tell Abuelita every word. I just drove her last night with her friends Maria and Susana to their little church, so the padre could help them download apps on their new smart phones.” The two girls laughed. “They want to follow Jesus, and the padre was showing them and a lot of old ladies how to sign up for Twitter and Facebook.”
They giggled again, and Raj craned his neck around them to look at Jesus. He saw a few professors huddled in the back. He concentrated on what Jesus was saying.
“So,” Jesus said. “I spent the night in Moriarty at a friend’s house and then on the way here I stopped by the Tijeras Pueblo. The Puebloans are going to occupy it again as soon as the land grant rights are cleared up, which is excellent.” He smiled. “They invited me to come back and celebrate the Three Sisters Feast with them when the bean and corn and squash come up, which will be great. I love a good stew.”
He turned his head and said something to the instructors behind him, but Raj didn’t catch what he said. Jesus turned back and smiled at the crowded room. “Does anyone have a quick question before I have to head out?”
Hands shot up all over the room but before Jesus could react, someone shouted out, “What about Roswell? Were there aliens there?”
Jesus looked surprised. “Of course. I thought that was common knowledge.”
The shouter stood up. He was a burly student with a short bristly beard and hair straggling over his collar. He adjusted his glasses as he looked at Jesus.
“The government said it was a weather balloon that crashed.”
Jesus’ booming laugh filled the chamber. “A weather balloon!” he chuckled. “That is funny.”
Laughter filled the room, and students called out.
“Who were they?”
“What kind of aliens?”
“Were they from another planet?”
The hubbub of sound escalated as some shouted questions at Jesus and some talked excitedly with their friends. Raj tried to edge his way closer to Jesus. It was hot in the crowded theater. He heard the girls whispering again, this time about someone’s grandparents who apparently said that Jesus would return.
Someone behind him said, “Well, Jesus isn’t what I expected, but then, who am I to know? I didn’t even know he was real. I thought he was a religious preference, not a man.”
Lobos? Raj wondered.
Jesus put his hands up and the room quieted. “Yes, of course they are from another planet,” he said. “Earth has been isolated. Visitors were not forbidden here but they have been frowned upon and most honor the tradition of leaving you alone.’
“Why?” someone screamed nearby. “What’s wrong with us?”
The sound reverberated in Raj’s ear and he pulled his head back sharply.
“There is nothing wrong with you, “Jesus said. “Of course not. You just were not ready to spread out yet or to handle interaction with other species. There have been survivors of landings here but they never seem to make it to the light of day.”
Jesus looked serious suddenly. “It is almost a phobia with humans. If they can’t explain it, they kill it, or don’t believe it. This childishness must be surpassed before you can interact safely with beings that are different than you. I came back to live on Earth again and make sure that you do. It’s time to move on from this limited outlook.
A girl in the front row leaned forward and reached out her hand, as though she was going to grasp Jesus’ boot. She spoke so quietly that Raj had to strain to hear the words: “Do you still heal?”
Jesus looked down at her and smiled. “Yes, I do,” he said. “But, you know, the medical field is expanding so much that I won’t need to much longer. It’s good and right when you take care of each other. However, until you can keep up, I will always help out. UNM has a good medical…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the back door burst open and seven or eight men rushed in and onto the back of the stage. Two of them grabbed Jesus and the rest surrounded him and propelled him swiftly towards the open back door. One of the English instructors strode forward with a shout but they shoved him back roughly and rushed Jesus out the exit.
It happened so quickly that there was not time to do more than jump to your feet and surge forward, then Jesus and the men were gone. Raj started to push his way out the door. The whole room was shoving and pushing towards the front door and the back exit.
He finally broke out into blinding late-afternoon Albuquerque sun. He covered his eyes as he rushed down to the sidewalk. He saw the girls in yellow scarves talking to one of their classmates, their hands flashing excitedly as they talked.
“What happened?” he heard all around him.
“Miguel said he saw men shoving Jesus into a black car. He said they huddled over him and pushed him towards the car and then they all jumped in. There were four or five black cars and they all raced off.”
Raj felt cold suddenly. What did this mean?
“Is Jesus in trouble with the World Alliance?” he wondered, confused “Why would Jesus be in trouble with the government? This is crazy.”
Raj checked his phone quickly. Of course, Jesus hadn’t updated his app. He turned towards the student named Tom., and said, “Are you sure they were government vehicles?”
“No, but they sure looked like it. They were black with dark tinted windows.” He stared at Ram. “What are they doing?”
Raj shrugged. It flashed through his mind - was this – could this have been – was this mentioned in the Bible – he wondered. He nodded at Tom as he headed back to the bus stop on University Avenue. He might as well go back to the hotel until he heard from Jesus. A phrase popped into his mind that he had heard in hell. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Even so, what? he thought. Even so, come and be arrested?
Raj walked down the street towards the little theater at the Community College. The whole campus was abuzz. He watched students scurrying ahead of him, one girl panting as she passed him, running to catch up with a friend. He listened to the excited comments around him. Word had spread like wildfire that there was a guest speaker in the Coal Avenue Theater, and it was Jesus Christ himself!
Of course, by now everyone knew he had returned to earth. It was impossible not to know, with his face being plastered on the news every night for the last week. His every movement was shadowed and scrutinized. Locally, in Albuquerque, 770 KKOB had taken to following their “Weather and Traffic on the 7s Report” with updates about him, along with speculation about where Jesus was, where he had been, and where he was going next.
Raj speeded up as he passed the Max Salazar building. I am not going to make it inside if I don’t hurry, he thought. He broke into a jog and then sprinted towards the JS building, and then to the theater, which was just across the street. An increasing stream of students ran with him. He was breathless when he finally crowded up to the door and shoved his way in.
Jesus was standing on the stage. Every seat was filled, and Raj saw people sitting on laps and others pressed against the walls. Jesus was wearing blue jeans and a Lobos tee-shirt. His colorful, square-toed cowboy boots looked new and custom made, like the kind Raj saw advertised on television last night from the Back At The Ranch Company up in Santa Fe. Jesus had sent him to get a room in Albuquerque while he stayed with friends in the area, and Raj had taken the bus over to hear his speech at the school. He edged his way in and stood behind two girls wearing yellow scarves with red logos of some kind. Raj recognized the girl who had run past him, panting. The two were whispering to each other.
“I am going to tell Abuelita every word. I just drove her last night with her friends Maria and Susana to their little church, so the padre could help them download apps on their new smart phones.” The two girls laughed. “They want to follow Jesus, and the padre was showing them and a lot of old ladies how to sign up for Twitter and Facebook.”
They giggled again, and Raj craned his neck around them to look at Jesus. He saw a few professors huddled in the back. He concentrated on what Jesus was saying.
“So,” Jesus said. “I spent the night in Moriarty at a friend’s house and then on the way here I stopped by the Tijeras Pueblo. The Puebloans are going to occupy it again as soon as the land grant rights are cleared up, which is excellent.” He smiled. “They invited me to come back and celebrate the Three Sisters Feast with them when the bean and corn and squash come up, which will be great. I love a good stew.”
He turned his head and said something to the instructors behind him, but Raj didn’t catch what he said. Jesus turned back and smiled at the crowded room. “Does anyone have a quick question before I have to head out?”
Hands shot up all over the room but before Jesus could react, someone shouted out, “What about Roswell? Were there aliens there?”
Jesus looked surprised. “Of course. I thought that was common knowledge.”
The shouter stood up. He was a burly student with a short bristly beard and hair straggling over his collar. He adjusted his glasses as he looked at Jesus.
“The government said it was a weather balloon that crashed.”
Jesus’ booming laugh filled the chamber. “A weather balloon!” he chuckled. “That is funny.”
Laughter filled the room, and students called out.
“Who were they?”
“What kind of aliens?”
“Were they from another planet?”
The hubbub of sound escalated as some shouted questions at Jesus and some talked excitedly with their friends. Raj tried to edge his way closer to Jesus. It was hot in the crowded theater. He heard the girls whispering again, this time about someone’s grandparents who apparently said that Jesus would return.
Someone behind him said, “Well, Jesus isn’t what I expected, but then, who am I to know? I didn’t even know he was real. I thought he was a religious preference, not a man.”
Lobos? Raj wondered.
Jesus put his hands up and the room quieted. “Yes, of course they are from another planet,” he said. “Earth has been isolated. Visitors were not forbidden here but they have been frowned upon and most honor the tradition of leaving you alone.’
“Why?” someone screamed nearby. “What’s wrong with us?”
The sound reverberated in Raj’s ear and he pulled his head back sharply.
“There is nothing wrong with you, “Jesus said. “Of course not. You just were not ready to spread out yet or to handle interaction with other species. There have been survivors of landings here but they never seem to make it to the light of day.”
Jesus looked serious suddenly. “It is almost a phobia with humans. If they can’t explain it, they kill it, or don’t believe it. This childishness must be surpassed before you can interact safely with beings that are different than you. I came back to live on Earth again and make sure that you do. It’s time to move on from this limited outlook.
A girl in the front row leaned forward and reached out her hand, as though she was going to grasp Jesus’ boot. She spoke so quietly that Raj had to strain to hear the words: “Do you still heal?”
Jesus looked down at her and smiled. “Yes, I do,” he said. “But, you know, the medical field is expanding so much that I won’t need to much longer. It’s good and right when you take care of each other. However, until you can keep up, I will always help out. UNM has a good medical…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the back door burst open and seven or eight men rushed in and onto the back of the stage. Two of them grabbed Jesus and the rest surrounded him and propelled him swiftly towards the open back door. One of the English instructors strode forward with a shout but they shoved him back roughly and rushed Jesus out the exit.
It happened so quickly that there was not time to do more than jump to your feet and surge forward, then Jesus and the men were gone. Raj started to push his way out the door. The whole room was shoving and pushing towards the front door and the back exit.
He finally broke out into blinding late-afternoon Albuquerque sun. He covered his eyes as he rushed down to the sidewalk. He saw the girls in yellow scarves talking to one of their classmates, their hands flashing excitedly as they talked.
“What happened?” he heard all around him.
“Miguel said he saw men shoving Jesus into a black car. He said they huddled over him and pushed him towards the car and then they all jumped in. There were four or five black cars and they all raced off.”
Raj felt cold suddenly. What did this mean?
“Is Jesus in trouble with the World Alliance?” he wondered, confused “Why would Jesus be in trouble with the government? This is crazy.”
Raj checked his phone quickly. Of course, Jesus hadn’t updated his app. He turned towards the student named Tom., and said, “Are you sure they were government vehicles?”
“No, but they sure looked like it. They were black with dark tinted windows.” He stared at Ram. “What are they doing?”
Raj shrugged. It flashed through his mind - was this – could this have been – was this mentioned in the Bible – he wondered. He nodded at Tom as he headed back to the bus stop on University Avenue. He might as well go back to the hotel until he heard from Jesus. A phrase popped into his mind that he had heard in hell. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Even so, what? he thought. Even so, come and be arrested?