One very brief excerpt from Henderson's very brief book. I'm about halfway through as I've dived into Joel's latest as well. Fortunately, this one's a quick read. What drew me to the book is that it seems to be somewhat parallel to my own appreciation of music and it's influence on one's faith. In Henderson's case, it's with 18th and 19th century hymns. Mine? 80s CCM. To each their own.

Henderson is a curious read, but the beauty of this read is in its uniqueness and unpredictability. It's not from the usual type of author you'll find among Christian lit. There are numerous moments where Henderson challenges, prods, and provokes a literalist understanding of the Bible ... and probably even some folks who aren't completely literalist in their view of the Good Book. It's important to read the book with the understanding that the author is on a journey in his tale. It's not a textbook, it's not even a finished journey. Therein lies the uniqueness.

The quote below, I offer as an example of all that. Feel free to pick a number of "things wrong with this statement." I'm still busy imaging a Jesus with a nose ring in the meantime. Henderson precedes this with his telling of the hymn, "He Lives." The lyrics described below, obviously left him just a tad perplexed.

"Simple Gifts" - Bill Henderson (pg 53)

The real question is, of course, why would you insist thqat Jesus come "at last" when He is right beside you at every moment anyway?

The real Second Coming, of course. Actually, it's the Third Coming, if you count the birth and then the resurrection and the predicted third appearance. But let's not get stuck on mathematical niceties. What bothers me here is the physicality of all this. Why do we want Jesus in the flesh? What if He shows up with a nose ring? What if His hair really is as long as in the usual Jesus portraits? What if He has a tattoo that says "Mother"? What if He's gay, bisexual, or nonsexual? What if He's a Wall Street WASP> What if He's dumpy, bald, or black?

Henderson follows that with an interesting tale of his visit with Father Divine. If you're still following along, it makes for an interesting read. Trust me.