G entle light from the stars above retreated from the gray beginnings of dawn. Jesus stirred on his bed of woolen robes and grass. As he had laid his head on a roll of clothing, he had heard the faint rustle of small creatures making their way through the grass. He had fallen asleep listening to the sound of his own breathing and feeling each beat of his heart in his temples. Now his eyes opened to the lightening sky with the feeling of discomfort in his abdomen. And so, the Creator of the universe, the Creator of this body he inhabited, had to pee.

His companions lay in scattered array, their chests rising and falling in early morning slumber. Peter could be heard snoring. Jesus smiled. His eyes searched for a quiet spot in the copse of trees, his heart longing for intimacy with the Father, he sat down, leaned against the trunk of a tree and began to pray. Perhaps it was prayer. Perhaps it was just thought of the richness of his life. He thought of his father, Joseph. “Father,” he thought quietly, “be very close to my father this day. Help him to remember how much I love him. Help him to know how much I appreciate all he has given me.” He thought of the influence Joseph had had in molding his own character and values. He remembered with embarrassed amusement the day when he was discovered in the temple. “Oh my God, enrich my father Joseph today, and prepare a reward for him in your realm that his dreams cannot imagine.” And then his thought shifted to his mother, and to each brother and sister in turn. Then to the men who were with him. “I know who I am, holy Father, yet I am uncomfortable when Peter and the others call me ‘Lord.’ I want them to feel that I am one of them, yet I know they must acknowledge your Presence in me.” Sometimes it is hard being your Son. How to be the Son of God and the Son of Man is oft perplexing. And so it shall be for all time a mystery, a struggle for holiness in a world of Pain. “Oh God, however much I am a part of you, let me be to them a source of your love. Let me be faithful to them, a counselor to them; let me nourish and feed them . . .“ His moment of prayer disturbed by the sounds of awakening men coughing, clearing throats and urinating on the ground.

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