Has Jesus Appeared Anywhere In Ohio? Episcopal Bishop Wants To Know

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Episcopal Bishop Kenneth L. Price of the 30,000-member Diocese of Southern Ohio has a hunch that Jesus has been showing up in the state. Very quietly, of course. None of the celestial rah-rah associated with the second coming. Price wants anyone who thinks they've recently spotted the Lord to send him an e-mail at bishopken@aol.com. He's included that address in a column he's written to track down any Ohio sightings:

"Seeing Jesus is not hard in our diocese, but often we take such sightings for granted. And so for the weeks of Epiphany, I would like to invite you to interact with me by being especially alert for such moments, and then e-mail me how you have seen Jesus in your own congregation or family life. Hopefully the sightings will be so numerous that I will not be able to share them all, but I will share those I can in a future column. Jesus is very much in our midst, and Epiphany is a good time to lift this truth up and take note of his presence in our lives."

The bishop doesn't come right out and say if he means actual apparitions of Christ, or just moments when a miracle or good deed occurs as if divinely inspired. He seems to be leaning toward the former. Clearly, he doesn't seem to have in mind kitschy religious stuff like the Giant Jesus super savior statue that's become a roadside attraction off Interstate 75 in Monroe, Ohio.

"If we keep our eyes open, if we are alert, if we are aware, there will be plenty of opportunities to 'see Jesus' all around us. Last month, I mentioned how I had been able to see moments of grace in our recent Diocesan Convention. Now in this Epiphany season, I would like to focus on moments in which we 'see Jesus.'"