Spiritual Baggage

Einstein.

Hitler.

Charlie Sheen.

Jesus Christ.

Now, before any of you get nervous that i'm making comparisons between these people, i'm not =).  I just wanted to show that each of these people have connotations very strongly connected to their names and their legacies.  Not in the least Jesus Christ.  And as i've been doing more reading and more of my own spiritual search, i'm finding it hard to really learn more about Him.  I keep needing to remind myself that He's was a real historic figure (according to most reliable sources--both Christian and non-Christian).  It's so easy to go one extreme or another:  He was just a good teacher, nothing divine; He was exactly as the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) portray Him to be.  But neither of those views gets into the subtleties of who someone really is (in this case, Jesus).  People are complex.  Humans are complex.  Persons are complex.  Life is complex.  Complex in a full way; an interesting way; a wonderful way.  What if Jesus was not exactly as the Gospels depict Him?  Would that be bad?  What if He was more than how the Gospels depict Him?  Wouldn't that be better?  What if He's more mysterious than we think?  I really want to know this bigger, fuller, real-er, more mysterious Person and not just be bound by writings (that may or may not have been up to our modern documentary standards).

But it's hard.  Spiritual baggage is heavy, and tends to show up every time you turn around.  I want to be able to get past the "dualistic" thinking about Jesus--past the glossed over picture i have of Him.  Slowly, but surely--hopefully.