An Easter like no other

Crystal Cross (Bergeron Image)

The cross depicted in the photo that accompanies this post sits on the meeting rail of a window before my writing desk.  It has rested there undisturbed for years, catching the rays of the sun as it rises above the eastern edge of the Second Watchung ridgeline in Bridgewater.

Each day, the morning light of the eastern sky casts a different hue on it, reflecting nature’s mood on any particular day.  In July, 2011, when I composed this shot, the sun beamed brightly upon it, framing it against a cloudlessly blue sky.  It left a penetrating burst of white light near the crystal crossbeam.

Sounds so serene and almost poetic, doesn’t it?  But there is a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree difference in meaning between a wooden crucifix and an innocent looking crystal cross – the former bears the body of Jesus crucified, while the other brings the hope of a Jesus resurrected:  Body gone.  Memory alive forever.

That wooden cross which stood on the hill of Golgotha centuries ago carried the body of Jesus nailed to its crossbar by the Romans, cast in the role of a common criminal, and left there to suffocate to death.

 

The penalty of crucifixion was so savagely brutal and tortuously slow that it was reserved only for non-Romans living within the Empire.  It was administered to people who dared to step out-of-line, or who were deemed to have breached or challenged the authoritarian rule of Rome.

A Time for Hope

Tip O’Neill, that jovial Irishman from Boston who served effectively for years as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is noted for having coined the aphorism, “All politics is local.”

The cross above my writing desk
holds the eternal promise of Easter.

For your consideration, I offer this variation from another realm:  “All religious belief is local – not simply geographically, but more so in one’s heart.”

No better expression of this have I witnessed than that which is evident in the spiritual events of this past week. 

For people of the Judeo-Christian tradition, it was an occasion to remember, to reflect upon, and to celebrate one of the holiest periods on the Jewish and Christian calendars.

Those of the Jewish faith commemorate the days of Passover (Pesach), a time to observe the deliverance of the Jewish people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. 

For Christians throughout the world, this sacred time brings back the memory of a man who died at the command of a Roman prefect by one of the most ignominious and brutal manners of execution – crucifixion – a death so slow and painful, that it was reserved exclusively for non-Romans.

Freedom to Worship

A Study in Glass and Ice

A crystal cross stands undisturbed on the inside of an eastward-facing window of our home, just above my writing desk.  It has rested there quietly for years, providing a personal venue for thoughtful reflection.

Yesterday morning, the freezing rain of the wintry mix that descended upon Bridgewater turned into an ice storm which coated the entire east side of the house, glazing its windows.

The ice-coated window pane created a vibrant backdrop into which the crystal cross, the glass of the window, the ice, and the ambient light all seemed to meld into a single dimension, one of hope and inspiration.

This, of course is a Christian symbol, reminding followers of this man called Jesus of the impact that his teachings continue to have upon the civilized world.  Yet, he was not a man of Western ideas, but a Jewish person imbued with the culture of the Middle East who, long before the spread of Western Civilization, had his greatest impact upon the people of the Mediterranean basin.

In the Quran, the keystone of Islam, this man called Jesus is noted as one of the great prophets.  But there is a major disconnect between that acknowledgement, and with the current practice of violence and death being perpetrated upon his Christian followers in the Middle East today. 

Media accounts of the past year have underscored the brutality and death being inflicted upon Christians in that region, particularly in Iraq, and recently in Egypt – followed closely by Pakistan and Afghanistan, all of which are presumed allies of the U.S.

As church bombings and individual killings by Islamic extremists persist in those countries, President Obama maintains a public silence on the problem, as has President Bush before him.  No U.S. politician seems to have the fortitude to confront the issue.

Meanwhile, in America, I can still observe and reflect upon the meaning of a Christian cross, calling to mind the man whom the Romans nailed upon it, something that I doubt I could do in peace and security, were I in one of those four countries. 

You Can Set Your Watch by It!

Almost every year, before one of the major Christian celebrations, some author or research organization comes out with a story or discovery that’s supposed to shock Christianity to its core, minimize it, or put it in a bad light. Again!

The release of such information is maddeningly timed to hit the press and media about a week before a Christian commemoration such as Easter, obviously timed to have the maximum bang-for-the buck for publishers and promoters.

The most recent example is the large red-on-black lettering on the cover of Newsweek’s latest issue, starkly proclaiming, The Decline and Fall of Christian America. In its May, 2006 issue, the National Geographic released research results of an ancient scroll entitled, The Gospel of Judas. The findings were supposed to turn Christianity on its head – I’m still waiting.

Perhaps the most notorious and monetarily successful work of its type in recent times was the book, The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. I read it thoroughly, did extensive research on its claims, wrote a paper on it, and delivered that to a standing-room audience debunking Brown’s pathetic research.

Even President Obama got into the act when, in his recent visit to Turkey, he downplayed the cultural impact of people of faith in the founding of this nation when he said that America is merely “. . . a group of citizens bound by common ideals and values.” That so, Mr. President?

If I sound ornery about this, it’s because I am. I’d like to think – unrealistic, I know – that some of us, could we please, just celebrate a religious fête without the annoyance of a know-it-all telling us what we should believe about our belief.

Meanwhile, Happy Easter to all my fellow Christians, and Happy Passover to all my brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith, without whom our Sacred Writings would be incomplete.

What Would You Do?

“I have no hard feelings,” said Korean-American Dong Yun Yoon, “I know he did everything he could.” So spoke this heart-broken husband and father who recently lost his wife, two young daughters and mother-in-law, when a Marine Corps fighter jet from the nearby Miramar air base lost power and crashed into a San Diego residential neighborhood. The pilot safely ejected before the collision.

A devout Methodist Christian whose firm faith has obviously not inoculated him from the reality of life’s deepest tragedies, Yoon reached out for help. Turning to others who have suffered “more terrible things,” he pleaded, “Please tell me how to do it. I don’t know what to do.”

Christians have sometimes mulled over the meaning of the often disparaged and misapplied question, “What would Jesus do?” Perhaps Dong Yun Yoon, in his deepest moment of grief has intuited the answer: Could it be that the Man who died crucified expects that we should extend ourselves to help those who suffer in the midst of such inexplicable traumas?

Maybe Mr. Yoon is delivering an authentic Christmas message: That we live our lives applying the meaning of The Greatest Commandment. Curious? Check it out. You can find the succinct wording of that message in any copy of the New Testament and in the Hebrew Scriptures from which it is derived.