Keeping an Eye on the Cross
In March 2011 when I was having some repairs made at my house in preparation for putting it on the market, I groaned when I came home one evening and found that the painters had cleared a corner of the kitchen where a dozen or more crosses had been hanging. They needed to repair a crack high on the wall and they moved the crosses so they wouldn’t get spattered with texture and paint. They also pulled out all the little nails so they could feather and blend the new paint. I appreciated all of that, but unfortunately I didn’t have a photograph to remind me of how I had the crosses arranged.
I didn’t have a mental picture either, and that was sad because that means the crosses had become just another decoration that I rushed by on my way to seemingly more important things – eating, sleeping, watching TV. I missed the opportunity to make that corner a place to meditate, perhaps sitting at the kitchen table with an open Bible and a cup of coffee. Had I done that, I probably would have developed a pretty good mental image of the crosses and their arrangement. More important, I also would have thought more about what they represent.
During this season of Lent we’re encouraged to deliberately consider the cross of Christ. And what we’re asked to consider is that it’s not just a decorative symbol to hang on a wall, dangle from a chain, or inscribe with ink into our skin. Instead, it’s the fulcrum of our faith – the pivot point on which God focused all his love and mercy to lift us out of the despair of sin and death.
So I decided that when the painters were finished and time came to put everything back in its place, I wouldn’t recreate the cross corner in the kitchen. We could do it in a new way at a new house if we wanted to. Instead, during those days leading to Easter, I tried to slow myself down and spend more time contemplating the real cross rather than just rushing past the decorative ones. Although I did select a favorite one from the kitchen on which to focus my attention.