I wasn't crying, I was uh... just itching my eye. Yea, that's it.

King's Cross has helped paint the love and compassion of Jesus in a way I haven't seen before.  The story of Jairus and his daughter has had the greatest impact on me.  I haven't had the opportunity to write about it yet, so even though it wasn't from this week's section, I'm going to write my experience in reading that part of King's Cross.  I first read this book a few months back.  It was around Christmas time.  I boarded the plane to Montana to celebrate the holidays with my family with the book in my hand.  Typically, I pack the night before and morning of my flight.  I was a wee bit behind schedule, but was really excited to see my family.  Especially my sister.  Due to all that, I slept for about two hours that night.  Needless to say, on the flight I was really tired.  When I'm tired, I tend to feel things on a deeper level than normal.  One could say that when I am tired, I become a bit emotional.  I will neither confirm or deny that.  Anyways, I sat on the plane next to a lady in her early forties.  She saw the Bible and King's Cross in my lap and initiated a conversation.  I took the opportunity to share my faith with her and she seemed to be really encouraged.  The Holy Spirit definitely led the conversation.  After seeing the Spirit move in our discussion, I sat there absolutely amazed that God would give us  such an amazing gift in the Spirit.  It slowly began to hit me that I, Jacob Seth Jensen, in no way deserve the love and joy that God so freely has given to me.  I truly felt overwhelmed by God's love.


After reflecting on the amazing conversation I had with a stranger and how encouraged she seemed to be, I decided to open King's Cross and see what God wanted me to read that day.  As I read through the story of Jairus and his daughter, I began to see Jesus in a way that I had not before.  It has always been easy for me to see Jesus as a social activist and a man of integrity.  What I had not meditated on before was the loving way he addressed the people in front of him.  Keller points out that Jesus wakes the young girl up.  He snatches her back from death.  He refers to her with a pet name such as "sweetheart" or "honey."  As I read this, my eyes started to water up.  I put my sweatshirt hood over my face so the lady next to me couldn't see.  I turned my body to face the window.  The image of Jesus that Keller painted totally changed the character of Jesus in my mind.  I began to see him for the loving, compassionate and patient Lord that he is.  It was probably my favorite part of the book.  My prayer is that I can imitate Jesus in his strong conviction and steadfastness, but also his gentleness and patience.  He is the perfect balance of velvet and steel.