Bartholomew challenged the constricted image of Jesus as a "sad, lonely man wandering around the desert riding an ass." He argued that the historical accounts were recorded by people limited by their time's rules and invites a radical expansion of understanding. Using the Tarot as a framework for the wholeness of enlightened consciousness, he reveals Christ as containing all aspects - including the Fool's wild spontaneity, not just the Hermit's austere withdrawal. The fully alive Jesus drew people and animals to him through radiating peace and acceptance. True enlightenment requires embracing both angels and devils within oneself, as Jesus did during his 40 days in the desert, emerging to walk knowingly toward death with complete forgiveness and, at the last, overwhelming gratitude for a life that was perfect exactly as it was lived.

Breaking the Old Image: When Mary-Margaret taught a high school Episcopal class, students described Jesus as "a sad, lonely man wandering around the desert riding an ass." Bartholomew asks us to drop these old constricted concepts. The gospel accounts were written by people constrained by their time's rules and sensibilities - anything that didn't conform would have created tremendous negativity. We are no longer 2,000 years ago; there is now a new need to expand our understanding of who and what was really happening.

The Fool in Christ: The Tarot's 22 cards represent all parts of human consciousness that become real and dynamic in a fully enlightened being. No one would equate Jesus with the Fool - that figure who runs through life upsetting chairs, jumping from behind trees, turning order into disorder. Yet Bartholomew insisted: if Jesus did not have that sense of play, wonder, childlikeness, and spontaneous awareness, "then he was not enlightened." The temple cleansing, where Jesus went "thundering through" overturning money-changers' tables, shows exactly the Fool at work. "Those of you who are very convinced that you're on the way because you are straight and stern and right and righteous, beware. The Fool will come into your life."

Beyond the Hermit: The Hermit card easily fits the common image of Jesus - austere, remote, self-contained, never crying but never laughing, walking through life "crackling like dry leaves." There is no doubt Jesus had this capacity for deep inner stillness; how else could he have managed 40 days and nights of severe fasting? But the Hermit is only one card. The goal was to get the Hermit's outer light deeply buried inside, while also embodying all other aspects of the psyche. To place Jesus in only the Hermit box is to miss the wholeness.

The Most Alive Human: The real Jesus was "so alive" - not a sad man wandering alone. He had tremendous difficulty ever being alone because people could feel his power approaching. "He would walk into a village, and there was no way for him to walk unattended." Animals came to him, as they did later to St. Francis. This happens with an enlightened consciousness "filled with such a deep sense of centered peace that everything feels it, can approach it, and will be totally accepted." The sign of approaching enlightenment: do people feel safe to come near you in their flawed state?

Embracing Angels and Devils: Jesus knew himself to be capable of anything any human had ever been capable of. During his 40 days of fasting, he looked at it all - every devil, every angel within himself. "Out of that, having looked at the face of every devil he had inside of himself, he allowed himself to see the face of every angel." Many seekers look only at their angels while devils wait in the wings to surprise them. Enlightenment breaks from the heart when you know yourself to be all points of the psyche, both positive and negative. You don't have to share this journey with others, but you must be willing to acknowledge your side of darkness.

Forgive Them, For They Know Not: When Jesus said, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do," he offered liberation. The sin that most bothered Bartholomew is judgment against oneself. You sin against yourself daily by judging yourself far more harshly than necessary. To acknowledge deeply that much of the time "you do not know what you are doing" - that you follow patterns embedded from the past - brings tremendous relief, expansion, and forgiveness.

The Final Gratitude: At the end of his physical life, as Jesus began moving out of his body, he was "impressed with the grandeur." He saw that every moment of his life, lived precisely as it had been - with its perfections and imperfections - had brought amazing beauty and wonder to the totality of life force. "You do not have to live your life perfectly to have it be a perfect life. You simply have to live it." Moving through time and space empowered with life creates light. The burst of gratitude welled up in him, and Bartholomew assured us the same knowing awaits us: "The entire wholeness of your life is perfect exactly the way you are living it."