The issue: Jesus Day is May 4.

Our position: A day to be still and know the higher power is proper.

Selma area churches will hold their 12th observance of Jesus Day on May 4 at the intersection of Lauderdale Street and Dallas Avenue.

This is a time of high energy for adults and children with entertainment, food and games for the children.

But it is also a time of reflection and revival, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey.

The focus of this particular evening is Jesus &8212; the celebration of the spritual as it merges with the everyday.

In the gospels, we find people engaging in many everyday events with Jesus.

Peter and other disciples fished for a living. Jesus went with them on several occasions. He knew the struggles and challenges of the workday. He understood the meaning of having to make a living.

Jesus understood joy and beginnings. One of the first miracles described in the gospel of St. John, was at the wedding at Cana where he turned water into wine.

Jesus also understood sorrow. One of the shortest verses in the Bible is also in the gospel of John.

He was friends with Mary and her sister, Martha, and Lazarus. Lazarus became sick while Jesus was in another town. By the time Jesus returned, his friend Lazarus had died.

That short scripture is in John 11:35. Jesus wept.

Then, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus also knew family and the meaning of belonging. The gospels do not say much about what happened from the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem until he was 12 years old and went to the temple. Then, the gospels don&8217;t mention him until he begins his ministry.

Several books have been written about those teenage years. Some writers have said he traveled in the Orient during that time. They use Tibetan scrolls as the historical evidence for their claims.

However, what we know about Jesus and his family comes from some of his last words on the cross as he was dying. In the gospel of John, Jesus is describe as looking down from the cross and seeing his mother and a beloved disciple.

He provided for the care of his mother, by telling his mother and disciple that they were mother and son. In other words, that the disciple would care for his mother as long as she lived.

Work, happiness, sorrow and family are everyday things. We all experience them. And the gospels show us examples of where Jesus experienced all as he was God made man.

It is important that we remember our humaness and our need for spiritual fulfillment through our worship.

It is also important that we come together as community, much as the gospels portray that Jesus brought community together.

That our churches set aside this one day for the community to recognize the spiritual life and celebrate it brings to the forefront a practice of Christianity.

It is the practice that is important to each of us, individually, and to our community as a whole.