It seems there’s a new “Jesus in the Cheeto bag” sighting on the news.  If you’re keeping score at home he’s also been “appearing” lately on French toast, water stains, and a coffee cup in Missouri.

So why do Cheetos shaped roughly like an “artists rendering” of a man who was never photographed make the news in a “secular” country like America?  Is it, pardon my bad pun, the “cheese factor” of such stories?   Is it because we really want to “find Jesus” in something as ordinary as a bag of Cheetos?   Is it because such stories are compelling…amusing…ridiculous…all of the above?  Thoughts?  I’m honestly not sure…

I’ve never “found Jesus” in a Cheetos Bag.  (Or, If a Jesus shaped Cheetos was in there, I was cramming them down my face so fast I missed it.)  I have seen Jesus, though.  I’ve seen him in ordinary people.  I saw him in the life of the simple woman we celebrated at a memorial service yesterday.  (A women who didn’t leave behind possessions or money…but instead left behind untold stories of her quiet kindness, thankfulness, forgiveness, and faith.) 

So why does finding a “Jesus shaped” Cheeto make the national news and living a life of selfless care for others (like Jesus) sometimes only rate a 1″ x 3″ mention in the obituary section?   I don’t know.  It isn’t a perfect world.  I do know that living a life like Jesus did is still powerful…still world changing…still the best way to spend the short time each of us have on earth. 

I know that “finding Jesus” in a life well lived, leaves a lasting impact on everyone around. (It certainly has on me.)  It  lives on forever.  As an added benefit ,unlike finding “cheesus” in a bag of Cheetos it can’t be accidently eaten, stepped on, or lost in the couch…