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Tweaking Jesus’s Nipple & Other Divine Encounters
“Jamie, can I ask you something?” Jimmy, a friend of ours who had been living on the streets for some time, was being unusually cautious with me. We were sitting in our living room, gathered for our weekly potluck of the Little Flowers Community. As an adventurous hitchhiker, we never knew when he would show up, but we were always pleased when he’d stop by.
On this visit we moved him in with us for a few months, helping him ride out the bitterly cold Canadian winter. Jimmy is a great guy- generous, kind, and really very funny. He was also living with severe, untreated mental illness at the time, subjecting him to dark visions and fearful hallucinations, usually involving demons and vampires out to get him.
More often than not we could count on Jimmy to say exactly what was on his mind, with no thought to censoring the wild ideas or bizarre visions that came to him. Now, seeing him so uncharacteristically hesitant, he had my full attention immediately. Assuring him that he could ask me anything he wanted to, he went on.
“Well, I don’t want to offend you or say something sacrilegious or anything, but something happened to me. The other night I was riding the bus trying to get some sleep, so I was laying back with my eyes closed. Then I had this feeling that someone was standing over me. I opened my eyes and… umm, well, Jesus was standing over me with His arms spread wide.” He looked at me, waiting for a response.
Given the terrifying nature of most of Jimmy’s visions, which usually left him agitated and afraid, he seemed excited (if perplexed) by what he was sharing with me. I asked him what he did but he hesitated, looking a little embarrassed.
“That’s what I’m worried about. I don’t want you to be offended or anything. I mean, I was half asleep so I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful or nothing. When I saw him standing there I did the first thing that came to mind. I reached up and tweaked his nipple. You don’t think I am going to Hell for that, do you?” I grinned widely at Jim and assured him that Jesus would completely understand. Relieved, he continued:
“I am glad you said that, because I am pretty sure it was really Jesus too. A couple of nights later, it was getting cold out and my buddy wasn’t home so I…
