Buddha has more karma in his finger than…

A relic supposed to be Buddha’s finger was put on display in Hong Kong. Somehow I missed it when I was there this past weekend. Just missed Michael Jordan too. Equally upset by both huge disappointments.

Buddha’s finger or even his hair seem to generate a lot of interest and devotion. Not bad for a dead guy. Fortunately for us, we don’t have any relic of Jesus’ body. Unlike Buddha, he rose entirely from death to life. He took a dead, decaying body and, showing his surpassing power, brought it back to life. He showed himself to hundreds of people and then, after teaching his friends for 40 days, he took that body into heaven and sat down at God’s right hand. From their he rules his church. In time, that physical body will return to earth, still alive, perfectly glorified. He will raise his saint’s dead bodies to life and we will rule with him.

We don’t have a piece of bone or a skull. We have an empty tomb and a risen savior. Somehow I just can’t get to excited by Buddha’s finger, anymore than I could about Lenin’s body or Peter’s bones. In contrast to Jesus, these things seem small and foolish.

By the way, “Buddha’s Finger” would be a cool name for a rock band.