See all these people? They’re all walking. In one direction. Through the city. Halting at nearly every stop-light. For three hours together. See that truck? It’s basically like one gigantic speaker that pumps out music at deafening decibel levels in all directions. People wave flags. Teens paint their hair assorted colors. The crowd dances and jumps to the pulsating beat from the many speaker-trucks. There are clowns throwing T-shirts at people. There are the “#1” Fingers like people wave at sporting events. “What’s all this for?” you ask? The masses all come out for Jesus Day, where the big event is the March for Jesus. Denominations melt into one current of Christianity that flows through the city, curb to curb. The March ends at the Stadium where the music continues, this time led by worship leaders on one centrally located stage.
A few of us Americans and our Brazilian friends had the opportunity to go for a bit. But only for a bit. We actually lasted about three blocks when we were forced to exit the river because Zoë and Johnathon wouldn’t stop crying. They apparently did not appreciate the close proximity of thousands of other people, the noise of cheers and thumping music, and the heat and fumes from the trucks . . . nor the clowns. I told Johnathon that he’d probably appreciate it a lot more in about 13 years. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all. There are the inherently cool things of the demonstration of a mass of people all moving for a single cause, of seeing so many Jesus-loving people gathered together, of good clean fun and celebration. But I was a little unsure of the merit of the whole thing. What is its value? What do you think? What good is a “March for Jesus”?
A few of us Americans and our Brazilian friends had the opportunity to go for a bit. But only for a bit. We actually lasted about three blocks when we were forced to exit the river because Zoë and Johnathon wouldn’t stop crying. They apparently did not appreciate the close proximity of thousands of other people, the noise of cheers and thumping music, and the heat and fumes from the trucks . . . nor the clowns. I told Johnathon that he’d probably appreciate it a lot more in about 13 years. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all. There are the inherently cool things of the demonstration of a mass of people all moving for a single cause, of seeing so many Jesus-loving people gathered together, of good clean fun and celebration. But I was a little unsure of the merit of the whole thing. What is its value? What do you think? What good is a “March for Jesus”?
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