What Cross Works for You?

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

As for me and my house, we choose peace.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

I can’t imagine a better universe.
I can’t imagine a better planet.
I can’t imagine better life forms.
I can’t imagine a better human body.
I can’t imagine something better than consciousness.
I can imagine a better human community.
But I suppose you aren’t responsible for that bit of imperfection, are you?
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“Well, no, Philip, God does not require sacrifice. But people seem to lust for it.”

[So He gave us what we want? Not exactly, and He never said it.]

D. Blog: Seeing Crosses

I’m not usually one for crosses. As decorations or jewelry, they seem perverse to me. When shiny or brightly colored, they seem to deny the reality of the gruesome terror of that tool of imperial power. As a symbol of God’s power to overcome evil and death and to transform them into goodness, hope and life – that I understand and value. But save me from using the cross as adornment.

For a time, I liked the symbol of the electric chair that represented the reality of the cross. But where’s the hope and life in that?

I recently bought a cross that works for me, though. It’s a spent bullet casing that was transformed into the shape of a cross rising from the base of the shell. Made in Liberia by a former militant, now turned peacemaker following the violence and death of a 14-year civil war, it represents the hope people in his country have for a new life. I think it’s a wonderful symbol of what Christians try to honor and commemorate in our crosses.