8-lb, 6-oz Baby Jesus

This clip is from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006).  I’m not recommending the movie (I’ve never seen it myself), but I think that this scene is telling of how people relate to Jesus.

Ricky Bobby “likes the Christmas Jesus best,” so he addresses his prayers to “dear tiny, infant Jesus,” or “dear baby God.”  When his wife chides him at the dinner table for saying grace to a baby instead of to the grown-up Jesus, he responds that she’s allowed to pray to whatever Jesus she wants, but that he’s partial to the baby version.

The other table guests chime in with their favorite Jesuses:  Ricky’s friend Cal says that he likes to picture Jesus as a partier, or as a rock star.  His son Walker likes to picture him as a ninja fighting off bad guys.  Their Jesuses like what they like, or are what they want to be.

Perhaps Ricky likes baby Jesus the best because he’s less threatening as a baby.  Don’t a lot of us prefer to view Jesus as small, soft, and cuddly?

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