Revelation 1:12-18

A major downside to Holy Cross College prior to 1972 when the men's college became coeducational were weekends that became very quiet, especially after the football season ended.  Fraternizing with the gentler gender required trips to Boston: Emmanuel, Newton and Regis colleges for Catholic women.  My wife went to Simmons College across the street from Emmanuel, but I didn't meet her until much later in life.  She and her friends dated young men at Harvard and MIT.  This may have had something to do with snobbery on their part and lack of imagination on the part of Holy Cross boys.  Possibly a healthy dose of both.  I think it came as a major relief to my wife's parents when she finally settled down and married a good Catholic boy, a normal person with an honest appreciation for Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio ... and a war veteran to boot.

The Massachusetts Turnpike might have been the fastest route from Holy Cross to Boston, but we usually drove Route 9, no tolls.  In those days, that road had some very dark stretches and turns that could jar the passengers when the driver got a little sleepy.  One dark night on the road back from Emmanuel the passengers were sound asleep.  I was starting to nod off myself when we hit one of the those curves and I jerked the steering wheel to stay on the road.  Jerked from dreams about a beautiful Emmanuel girl with long black hair, my friend John who was sitting beside me screamed:

OH DEAR JESUS, I'M DEAD!

Above the curve, on a hill, illuminated in the darkness like a baroque Caravaggisti painting, was a huge statue of Jesus Christ, which of course was the first thing sleepy John saw when he opened his eyes. 

Revelation 1:12-18

"A revalation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him so that he could tell his servants what is now to take place very soon; he sent his angel to make it known to his servant John..."
"And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.  But he laid his right hand on me, 'Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.'"