American Jesus

I was having a discussion with my parents. It was one of those "deep" ones.
"Sometimes, I feel screwed by my own country! I mean, I think of the suffering that other Christians face worldwide. And here in America, what is the worth of my relationship with God since I don't know anything about suffering?"
I also recently was saying that I wish I could travel to get an international perspective. I feel that the sacred truths of God I know...I know only through a cloudy glass. The haze is created through knowing God in the context of a certain image, an icon of Jesus, rather than the true person He is. I couldn't wrap my finger around it. But this bearded Jesus with brown hair and an absent-minded gaze as an icon was slightly unsettling. Sometimes I wonder if Christians are serving an idea of God or the person of God.

If I haven't put you to sleep as you sit in front of your computer screen, you may want to check out this article. I discovered it hours after I was on the subject with my parents. American folks, you may want to give this one at least a glance-over.