Staretz Encounter

The Mystic Gospels present a Jesus virtually unknown to the average student of history. For this is not the Jesus of the white robes, walking on clouds, impervious to the world, and all-knowing. No, this is the human Jesus, struggling with and through his life, encountering the "demons and dragons" not only of other people's hearts, but of his own. This Jesus is like us. He is completely human. But he is also completely divine. It is this knowledge that makes him a mystic. His major emphasis is always Love, and that is "Love plus nothing." This Jesus does not argue theology or religion. He is familiar with many traditions, including the Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist. Indeed, during his "lost years," during his twenties, about which the Scriptures say nothing, he goes to India and studies the world with the masters of mysticism in that exotically spiritual environment. This human Jesus, although acquainted with sorrows, also smiles and laughs easily. He is moved easily, and it is in his supreme humanness that we can all find our supreme divinity.