WWJD at a PWI? … Vanessa Burch

Creative Works… 216 WWJD at a PWI?: What Would Jesus Do at a Private White Institution?

by Vanessa Burch Jesus and God look down upon earth to admire God’s creation. They admire the trees, waters, mountains, but especially God’s children. God turns to Jesus and says, “My son, I am going to send you to earth once more. Many people on earth have continued to love you since your resurrection, and have been praying that you walk with them in life. They are in desperate need of your presence. I ask that you go and walk with them, experience life as a human, observe, come back, and tell me if humanity has learned to accept Our love.” Jesus says, “Of course Father, I love all of our children and want to be there for them in their time of need. Where shall I go? Who needs my presence?” God points to a Christian university in America. “You must return as a college student and visit that campus. Many are stressed from school and have asked for your peace. They will not know you are the son of God, but you will go by Jesús. You will walk with them in their life as a student until I summon you to return.” Jesus says, “Let your will be done.” Jesus suddenly finds himself in the admissions office of the university. He walks up to the front desk and says, “Hello, I would love to enroll in this university. How can I start?”

The admissions officer stares at Jesus for what feels like a while. He says, “Well, fill out this application and submit your tuition. You don’t look like you’re from here; what’s your name?” “My name is Jesús, and I just moved to America.”

Creative Works… 217 “Wow, Jesús! What an exotic name. Are you first generation? We need more first generation students, especially ones with your look.” Jesus doesn’t know how to respond. What do they mean by exotic or first-generation? And why did his appearance matter? The admissions officer continues: “Well, nonetheless, come back with the first tuition payment amount and we will enroll you at once.” Jesus begins to search for a job to afford his first tuition payment. He applies everywhere he can think of, where his skills will be useful, but he keeps getting rejected. Some recruiters become disinterested the moment Jesus says his name is Jesús, and others turn him away the moment they see Him. Jesus is confused. He knows he has excellent carpentry skills, and he works well with people, so why doesn’t anyone want to hire him? He searches and searches, but no one wants him. Jesus can’t help but feel defeated and hopeless. He is hungry, homeless, and exhausted. Jesus feels anxiety settle in his heart at the thought of not having enough money for food, shelter, and education. He kneels and begins to pray. “Father, I am tired and weak. I now come to you. I trust in you. I know that you will provide for me and allow me to do your will. I trust in you.” Jesus perseveres. He continues looking and looking, until He finally realizes his university needs maintenance workers. Jesus and another other student, Blake, are hired immediately. Jesus thanks God for this blessing, and turns to his new coworker, “Hello, I’m Jesús. What’s your name? I’m so excited to work with you!” He barely looks at Jesus and says, “Of course some-

Creative Works… 218 one named Jesús gets hired. Why do you all come over here just to steal our jobs?” Jesus is stunned. He says to Blake, “I do not understand what you mean.” Blake laughs. “Of course you don’t, just go back to where you came from.” Jesus is bewildered, and wonders what has hardened Blake’s heart. He prays for Blake to open his heart, and to learn to accept others. Despite the way Blake treated Him, Jesus continues to love Blake. Soon, Blake eventually has enough money to make his first tuition payment, but Jesus doesn’t. He doesn’t understand why Blake has enough money when they both have been working the same amount of hours together. Jesus feels hurt and confused – emotions He is not used to feeling. But nonetheless, Jesus perseveres. He works until he is finally ready to enroll. Jesus is excited to finally experience his first day of university. Upon arriving, Jesus begins introducing himself to other students. He wants to answer their prayers to God by showing a friendly face. However, when Jesus tries to talk to the students around him, very few acknowledge him. A few give smiles and a cordial hello, but many of them appear uninterested. A lot of them give him strange looks, pretend not to see Him, and ultimately do not seem interested in talking to him. They all speak to each other, and seem happy with one another, but do not include Jesus in their conversations. Jesus is confused, and cannot explain this feeling. He cant help but feel like a stranger. He feels like he doesn’t belong, or that he has done something to offend them. Although he can’t recognize what he feels, he realizes he had this same exact feeling when he last visit-

Creative Works… 219 ed earth. Jesus suddenly remembers how it felt when people hated him, how they denied Him, how people didn’t believe he was the king of the Jews. Jesus feels like an outsider, so he goes to the school chapel for comfort. Then he sees a picture of himself. Or, at least, he thinks it is a picture of himself. He doesn’t recognize the Jesus in the picture – that Jesus looks different. Why is he so light in this picture? Why are Jesus’ eyes blue in the painting? Then Jesus understands. The other students don’t talk to Jesús because he doesn’t look like them. The other students have light skin, unlike Jesus. They have expensive-looking clothes, light eyes, light hair… none of which Jesus has. Jesus doesn’t look like them at all. No wonder no one wants to be around Him; he is different. He had hoped to see more people that looked like him, but he cannot find any. Even the majority of his professors have light skin, and they treat him differently. For the first time in a long time, Jesus knows he is an outcast once more. Jesus feels uneasy as he walks out of his first class. He does not feel a sense of community like he had hoped for.

When he gets to his next class, he finally sees a group of students sitting together that look like him. Jesus feels a wave of relief wash over Him; he is ready to feel accepted. He sits next to them before class starts. “Hey, are you a freshman?” one of the girls asks him. “Yes, it’s my first day attending a university,” Jesus says with a smile. “My name is Jesus. What’s your name?” The girl’s eyes brightens. “That’s my brother’s name. My name is Maria; I’m happy you’re in this class!”

Creative Works… 220 Jesus feels his heart glow as he remembers His mother. He silently thanks God for sending him Maria, and for letting him see God in her. After class, Maria turns to Jesus and asks Him to go to the cafeteria with her and her friends. He agrees and sits with them for lunch. They pray together and give thanks to God for their lunch. The group eats and laughs with each other until they cry. They share stories about their home, the good and the bad, and Jesus listens. One student named Yousef shares an experience he had in his history class last year. “Last semester, when Professor Johnson was talking about 9/11, Chris and his buddies kept making comments like ‘I bet Yousef’s dad was involved’ and that they ‘wanted to look in my backpack.’” Jesus feels Yousef’s pain. Fatima responds with, “I hate hearing comments like that, too. Even the micro-aggressive comments bother me. Like, when I was eating my lunch, people kept saying they smelled something bad. I was so embarrassed. You guys never say things like that to me.” Jesus feels Fatima’s pain. Janea agrees. “The micro-aggressive ones are so weird. So many people keep touching my hair and asking me if it’s real. It’s so invasive.” Jesus feels Janea’s pain. He feels all of it. He knows why God has had him walk through their lives – why He has been sent down to earth once more. Jesus understands why no one hires him, why he becomes homeless so quickly, why he has to work harder than Blake, why he felt like he didn’t fit in, why he

Creative Works… 221 was treated differently, and why so many of God’s children were hurting. He thought times had changed since he had last lived on earth, until he saw how humanity was still struggling with the same sins as before. Not everyone is willing to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Jesus finally returns to heaven, seated at the right hand of the father. “Well, my son, what do you make of humanity? Are they willing to accept our love?” Jesus replies, “In order for them to accept our love, they must be willing to accept and acknowledge the differences of each other. They should support one another and treat each other with respect and kindness, so that they may open their hearts to one another. Our spirit continues to walk with all of our children. We know the pain and joy they feel. We will continue to support those who need it, and soften the hardened hearts of others.”