Meditation on the Cross

In my recent archeological excavation of my office, I discovered a rather ornate cross which is pictured below, thanks to the photography of Lorna:  

 

I am not exactly sure how this came into my possession.  It may have been when attending a Diocesan event such as one of the Synods (annual meeting of the Diocese). 

It is rather pretty in a somewhat gaudy way and it is a modern version, being in plastic, of an ancient symbol.  I must admit that I have not paid much attention to it since it came into my possession.  However, it did cause me to think of the process of meditation on the cross.  The cross is a universal symbol which contains a great deal of meaning for many people – even those who are not Christian.  Psychologically it can be symbolic of the intersection of the horizontal and vertical in our lives.  Intersections and crossroads can mean that there are options and decisions have to be made as to which road to travel.  You might reflect on the ‘road not taken’ as Robert Frost did in his poem or the ‘road less travelled’ as Scott Peck did in his book. 

For Christians, the cross represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Roman instrument of torture and execution, and the forgiveness of sins that was made possible by Jesus’ forgiving those who crucified him.  However, this cross is not a crucifix – it is the empty cross from which Jesus was taken down, which leads to many more possible meanings.  I discovered something about this cross, which I may have known about when I received it but had forgotten, it is a kaleidoscope.  You can look into it – there is a viewer at the bottom and you will see a multifaceted vision of reality.  The arms of the cross turn and what you are seeing changes.  I am not able to give you a picture of this, but I found one on the internet which will give you an idea.

This leads to the possibility that meditation on the cross can lead to different perspective on what you see and how you see the world – the world around you and the larger world.  It enables you to get different perspectives as you turn the cross arms.  It enables you to see things which you otherwise are not able to see.  You can also be reminded that a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry the cross to the place of execution as Jesus was physically unable to carry it due to the treatment by the Roman authorities.  As Christian we are called to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. 

I will close with a meditation on the cross by -Br. Luke Ditewig of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist:

Look at the cross, and pray with Jesus. Pray both trouble and trust. Death and evil are conquered. Jesus reigns, reaching, hearing, and holding all. On the cross Jesus bears the weight of the world. Hold yourself in a hug, trusting that Jesus has us all in his hands.

May you be blessed to be aided by others to carry your cross and know that Jesus will be with you on your journey.

 

The Wind Blows Where It Chooses

“The wind (spirit) blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

Saturday night, I was having a bit of a time questioning my faith.  I was awake a lot of the night – which seems to happen more frequently as I age – and was wondering why God seems to be most difficult to connect with at times when it would be most beneficial to make that connection.  To put it more clearly – where the heck is God when you need Him?  I could put it in non-gendered language but it feels rather right to give God a masculine pronoun in this instance.  

I certainly haven’t suffered like Job but I can certainly understand Job’s demand to make his case face-to-face with God.  In any case, as it so often happens, things seemed much more positive in the light of day.  As the dessert fathers and mothers discovered, the night does bring demons and challenges in many different forms.

Being Sunday morning, Lorna and I were off to St. James Anglican Church to ring the bell at 9:00 and attend the Morning Prayer service following.  As I have written about previously, we started ringing the bell at church on Easter Sunday morning at the request of our Primate, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, who had asked that all Anglican churches ring their bells to let people know that Jesus Christ has risen even in the midst of Corona Pandemic when churches were not open for public worship .  We decided that we would continue to do that every Sunday morning during the Corona shutdown until we were able to worship together again. 

Some time after Easter Sunday, our priest-in-charge, Rev. Sherry De Jonge, decided to hold Morning Prayer services of the Word to be recorded and broadcast on Facebook following the ringing of the bell.  These followed the Diocesan guidelines and were not open to the public.  Following the bell ringing the doors would be closed.  Yesterday was rather humid and the church was on rather stuffy so when I was closing the front doors, I decided to leave them open as a very nice breeze was blowing into the church.

As the service progressed, I went up to the lectern to lead the prayers of the people and was surprized to see a man I didn’t know sitting at the back of the church.  One of the regular attendees was absent so fortunately we did not exceed the permitted number of attendees in this time of Corona-19 which is five.  I’m not sure what the protocol would have been if we did but, in any case, all was well on that front.  Following the service, we engaged in a discussion with the visitor with all attendees including the guest wearing masks.  It turned out that he was interested in having some members of his family baptized in the church and was passing by and saw the open door so decided to join us and was able to discuss the baptismal process when public worship services resume – hopefully in September. 

Now St. James is a very small congregation and this doesn’t usually happen even in non-corona times.  So, I have to ask myself if the convergence of unusual events had something or someone directing things behind the scene.  All the circumstances coming together can, of course, be put down to coincidence, however, I must ask myself if there wasn’t a connection with my questions of the night before.  I’m not saying there is cause and effect at work here but you have to wonder.  The Spirit blows where it chooses as we are told. 

Blessings on your journey and watch out for those coincidences.