Because I am no taller than a ninth-grader, and when dressed in winter-get-up, I hear things that other, taller, adult-looking folks do not on campus, as I’m mistaken for a younger version of myself. And having inherited a multitude of clothing cast-aways from my kids, the ruse is complete. Long after letting students out of a night class in my university teaching days, I left the theology building to head to my car. I passed a couple of co-eds and heard this: “What’s the deal with this religion stuff, anyway? This Jesus dude, yea, I know who he is, but what does he have to do with my life? And these lectures I’m hearing… seriously, they have zero relevance to my life. What’s the point?”

Hmmmm. It’s a question worth pondering, you know. What does God, who formed you before you born (Jeremiah 1:5), Jesus, who blessed the struggling among us and asked us to walk a life worth living (Luke 6: 20-42), and the Holy Spirit, who gave us the tools to do so (Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-11) have to do with you and your life? I think the answer is different for everyone, but at the heart of it all is a connectedness of life-after-death, the battle between good-and-evil, community, a life-well-lived, and, of course, the cost of Love. The latter is worth the price of admission and that, my friends, is indeed the good news.

“Redemption.” A brief one-act play. Satan, cocky: Just look at him, will you? Jesus, searching: Which one? Satan, smirking: That guy with the whiskey in hand, surrounded by men in suits and ladies in waiting. That one. The one who sold his soul to me for the price of a big reputation and an even bigger bank account.

Jesus, hurting: I see him. I know him. I formed that soul… counted every hair on his head and rejoiced at his birth, you know.

Satan, gloating: Yessiree, Bob. He’s mine now. Doesn’t even think you exist. My minions did a great job with indoctrination on that one. It was too easy. A few professional setbacks and relationship blunders, and he was poised for takeover.

Jesus, aching: He made some choices without consulting me, true. He has free will. He can do as he chooses.

Satan, laughing: Free will. That was a dumb thing to give them. MAKE them beholden to you, that’s my motto. Lie to them, that’s my way. Chain their will to base desires, that’s my tactic. Put them in the prison of their own making and let them die there, that’s the goal.

Jesus, sighing: I gave him freedom. Suffered cruelly for him. Told him the Truth of the heart: He is beloved and I’ve called him by name. He is made for more. I shed blood for him.

Satan, sneering: A lot of good that did you. Or him. Just look at him, will you? Jesus, gazing lovingly: I’d do it all over again, you know. In a heartbeat. For a heartbeat. Finis by Laura Stierman Director of Evangelization