On writing about Jesus

On April 15, 1997, Bill Clinton was hobbling around on crutches at Shea Stadium to honor Jackie Robinson 50 years after he broke the color barrier. That was the night that baseball retired the number 42 for all major league teams. At the time, I didn't like that idea. I thought it was politically correct tripe. Now, I think it is a woefully inadequate way to honor a man whose life was cut short by the stress that came with carrying the burden he did.

It was a pleasant evening, a chance to see my Mets on TV, which didn't happen too often considering how bad they'd been for a few years.

Then President Clinton did something that irritated me greatly. He said, "I'm sure that if Jackie were alive today, he'd..." I don't remember how the sentence ended. But Bill Clinton didn't know Jackie Robinson. He had now idea what his thoughts were. He was just appropriating Robinson's name to make his own point.

I hate that.

But, as I write dialog and claim it to be from Jesus, I guess I am doing the same thing. After all, Jesus has been gone for the better part of 2000 years. And, of all the Christians I know, I am probably among the least appropriate to put words in Jesus' mouth.

Still, I think I'm okay with it because, in this case, Jesus is not agreeing with me. In fact, He is convicting me. One of the stories involves interplay between me, Jesus, and my friend Marty, who is a knockout who drives a BMW convertible and happens to be a lesbian. I don't have a friend named Marty who is a lesbian. But if I did, and if she was hot, I suspect I would react the same way as I did in the story. Especially if she drove me around in her BMW convertible.

I am reasonably familiar with the Bible, having read it cover to cover five or six different times. I have taken part in some pretty deep conversations about Jesus with people who are learned, have a deep relationship with Him or both. In short, unless I felt called to do this, I wouldn't do it.

Putting words in Jesus' mouth is a dangerous thing to do unless you know what you are doing. I think what I am doing is obeying. I hope the words that my fingers have Jesus saying are helpful and not hurtful.

Still, if you read them and find me to be full of crap, please let me know.