Look busy, Jesus is coming - Today as my partner and I were browsing in the video rental store, she was approached by a short, dark skinned man with an accent that sounded Indian.

"Excuse me," he said, "Do you know about 'The Last Temptation of Christ'?"

"I'm sorry, we don't work here, sir," my partner politely replied.

"No, I know, but I was looking for someone who would know something about Jesus and this movie," he stated.

"Oh, geez, uh" my spiritual but not religious partner fumbled, "you'd better talk to my partner. Honey... uhhh..."

As I tore myself away from the "D's" in the "New Releases" section, the man approached me and asked again, "Do you know about 'The Last Temptation of Christ'?"

"Uh, yes, it believe you'll find it in the drama section," I answer, assuming he's trying to find a copy of it.

"No, no, I know that, but, what about Jesus? What does this movie say about him?"

"Well," I reply, the light bulb starting to dimly illuminate, "the movie was very controversial because it looks at what would have happened if Jesus he married and had children. Some people protested when it first came out because they thought it was blasphemous."

The man immediately became more animated because I think I'm finally started understanding what he was really trying to ask. "Yes, yes! But, don't they believe that he was single, that he didn't marry?"

"Right," I exclaim, catching onto his energy, "the Christian scriptures and traditions teach that he did not marry and that he died on a cross and was raised from the dead. This movie tries to explore what would have happened if he married and had children. Some people have questioned if he had perhaps married Mary Magdalene."

"But, isn't Mary his mother?" he continued.

"Yes, Mary was his mother and there was another Mary, Mary Magdalene who was in his circle," I answer.

"Ahhhh, I see. They believe he was single and this movie imagines something else," he says definitively.

"Yes, that's it." I reply back.

"Very good, thank you very much."

After we end our brief theological discourse, my partner, who tends to wander off at the first sign of "religion," returns and asks, "What was that all about?"

I pause and think a moment before answering, "Well, he wanted to know about Jesus. I'm not sure, but, I think he assumed that he asked some white folks, we'd be more likely to know something about Christianity."

"Huh, well, I guess of all the people here, he probably got the right person to ask with you."

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One of the most refreshing aspects of moving to Toronto has been it's diversity. More than even the huge range of cuisine, perhaps one of the biggest benefits of this diversity is not having every other radio station being a Christian one like in the U.S. In fact, since I've been here, I've heard more t.v. and radio shows that are Muslim, Sikh and Hindu than anything else. I think one of the reasons it took a bit for the penny to drop for me in talking with this man is a result of the Christo-centrism so prevalent within the U.S. where we assume everyone, even people who aren't Christian, to know all about Jesus. Though, I'd bet ya the farm, this guy still knew more about Jesus and Christianity than I know about what his faith tradition might be.