THE CROSSES OFF HIGHWAY 107

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  "The cross is that high symbol of sacred service, the devotion of one's life to the welfare and salvation of one's fellows. The cross is not the symbol of the sacrifice of the innocent Son of God in the place of guilty sinners and in order to appease the wrath of an offended God, but it does stand forever, on earth and throughout a vast universe, as a sacred symbol of the good bestowing themselves upon the evil and thereby saving them by this very devotion of love."

THE URANTIA BOOK 

P2019:1   188:5.9 

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This post will take a while to complete - it's mainly images from a large collection of crosses interspersed with quotes from a number of sources about "the cross."
The collection will be on exhibit weekends this summer at a
 large home in the Magdalena, New Mexico area, and
 open by appointment after the first of the year.
Postscript - The exhibit/sale went on, off and on, through

the whole year, and ended on the Feast of St. James

(Santiago), July 25.  
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 “It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master:
no path of redemption can make a detour around it.”
Hans Urs von Balthasar
  Unless You Become Like This Child

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 “Even on the cross He did not hide Himself from sight; rather, He made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker.”
  St. Athanasius

  On the Incarnation

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"Although Jesus did not die this death on the cross to atone for the racial guilt of mortal man nor to provide some sort of effective approach to an otherwise offended and unforgiving God; even though the Son of Man did not offer himself as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God and to open the way for sinful man to obtain salvation; notwithstanding that these ideas of atonement and propitiation are erroneous, nonetheless, there are significances attached to this death of Jesus on the cross which should not be overlooked. It is a fact that Urantia has become known among other neighboring inhabited planets as the 'World of the Cross.'"
The Urantia Book
^{P2016:6, 188:4.1}  

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When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we proclaim Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly. We may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, all of this, but we are not disciples of the Lord. Pope Francis
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/pope_francis_521203?src=t_cross

"When we walk without the cross, when we
build without the cross and when we proclaim
Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of
the Lord. We are worldly. We may be bishops,

 priests, cardinals, popes, all of this, but we are
not disciples of the Lord."

Pope Francis

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“Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. 'The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared' (Luther).”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community 

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“I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved - the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced! With the rational respect that is due to it, knavish priests have added prostitutions of it, that fill or might fill the blackest and bloodiest pages of human history."
 Letter to Thomas Jefferson, September 3, 1816”
― John Adams

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The exhibit is too big to let fade, so we're
 opening for three weeks during the holiday
 period - from Nov 22 to Dec 15, 11 till 5 daily,
including Thanksgiving Day.
We're working on a video about all of this,
and in time will post it on our Youtube channel.
It's an interesting subject to say the least,
and for many, a sacred and often highly personal
element of faith and worldview.
  I hope we can do it justice. 
Feb 24 - Have the first 2:38 of the video done -
see it here:
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From THE URANTIA BOOK

On millions of inhabited worlds, tens of trillions of evolving creatures who may have been tempted to give up the moral struggle and abandon the good fight of faith, have taken one more look at Jesus on the cross and then have forged on ahead, inspired by the sight of God's laying down his incarnate life in devotion to 
the unselfish service of man.

The triumph of the death on the cross is all summed up in the spirit of Jesus' attitude toward those who assailed him. He made the cross an eternal symbol of the triumph of love over hate and the victory of truth over evil when he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." That devotion of love was contagious throughout a vast universe; the disciples caught it from their Master. The very first teacher of his gospel who was called upon to lay down his life in this service, said, as they stoned him to death, "Lay not this sin to their charge."

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PLEASE come see the exhibit if you're in our
neck of the woods. We'd be happy to open up
if we're around, and of course there's no charge,
nor do you need to feel obligated to buy anything.
And we even have some freebies, for all.
The home is on the market, so this is a
"limited run" for the exhibit. But we'll keep it up
until it's time to get ready for a new owner,
and we're continuing to add new elements.
Call or e-mail info is on the poster above.
The more lead time you can give me the better,
but if you're just passing through town give it a try.
Hasta la vista!

Postscript - The exhibit/sale went on till July 25,

the Feast of St. James (Santiago).  The home was sold.  Here's a "wrap-up" from my Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/matt.middleton.50746

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PRAYING WITHOUT PRIESTS ON 9/11

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From The Washington Post, 9/7/2011

Praying without priests on 9/11

By Anthony Stevens-Arroyo

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New York’s Mayor Bloomberg has ruled out clergy leading prayers at the 10th anniversary commemoration of 9/11 at the site of Ground Zero. Instead, stated the Mayor, the victims’ families and survivors can say their own prayers or quote from scriptures: clergy or First Responders can do so at other events. Jumping to the conclusion that only the clergy can pray, the American Family Association, considers the mayor’s decision to be “an insult to God,” conveniently adding an email address for donations. The right-wing echo chamber picked up on the orchestrated protest. Ms. C. M. Flowers at the Philadelphia Daily News broadsides her insight that this is “a brownnose gift to the PC crowd,” dubbing Bloomberg “Mayor Agnostic.” Professing that clergy prayers never intrude on public events, Dr. Donohue of the Catholic League forgets the Lutheran minister expelled from his church for participating at a Yankee Stadium event that allowed a Muslim to pray publicly. The ire of these protesters, I think, proves the wisdom of the mayor’s decision to keep religion from fanning political partisanship.

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9/11 was not a religious event.

The bombers of the World Trade Center in New York and intended attacks on other symbols of US power pursued terrorist aims, not religious ones. Similarly, public commemorations of this attack are not so much moments to worship God, as they are invitations to reflect on human mortality and humanity’s capacity for transcendent meaning. It is simply not true that only the clergy can express this transcendent meaning and give it a definable shape. I think it entirely proper that the religious experience of those who actually died or survived is celebrated rather than clerical sermonizing about it. Besides, choosing who represents religion today has become a thorny issue, especially for the churches we used to simply call “Protestant.” When the list includes newer definitions like “evangelical, Pentecostal, Mormon, mainline, Christian” it gets too long.

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It used to be that we Catholic lay persons found it difficult to pray without priests or rote memorizing. While others could close their eyes, hold hands and come up with beautiful prayers before meals, we often would lapse into a predictable, “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts….” The Catholic Charismatic Movement has done much to change that. We are less likely today to depend on the clergy to do praying for us and we reach out for spirituality to shape our worship. Personal prayer witnesses to the holiness for laity that Blessed John Paul II called “the New Evangelization.” We have an obligation, moreover, to evangelize cultures and not just convert individuals to joining the Catholic Church.

I don’t think we have to be “denominational” to achieve spiritual meaning. Consider for instance that the new buildings and memorials at Ground Zero are constructed to allow a wedge of sunlight every September 11th to shine at 8:46 AM on the footprint of the destroyed North Tower. It is a use of nature not unlike the way Egyptians and Mayans constructed pyramids in line with astronomical predictions of sunlight. There is also a pear tree replanted in the square after surviving the rubble of 9/11. These symbols should not be easily dismissed.

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Some might complain that the sun and a tree are not as obviously religious as the cross formed by two steel beams that survived the bombing. But then again, the cross is a specific religious symbol that is not embraced by all. While it is part of the museum, the wedge of light and the pear tree are parts of the plaza.

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Catholic America should not be upset. In our creed at Mass, we profess that “God, the Father Almighty” is “Maker of heaven and earth.” These religious symbols that are in the public square being constructed in New York City may not express the fullness of Catholic belief, but they are welcome steps away from pure secularism. They do not need a priest, minister, rabbi or imam to make them spiritual and public. Moreover, they effectively perpetuate a message of transcendence beyond our finite individual humanity. The religious experience of 9/11 does not need the words of clergy to be understood.

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Remember 9/11 Prayer

Written by a Navy Chaplain

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Almighty God, the year 2001 will be

 indelibly inscribed in our memories.

We looked with horror on the terrorist attacks of that September 11th.

But we looked with honor on acts of courage by ordinary people

who sacrificed themselves to prevent further death and destruction.

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We shed our tears in a common bond of grief for those we loved and lost.

We journeyed through a dark valley, but your light has led us to a place of hope.

You have turned our grief into determination.

We are resolved to do what is good, and right, and just.

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Help us to remember what it means to be Americans—

a people endowed with abundant blessings.

Help us to cherish the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand

with courage, united as one Nation in the midst of any adversity.

Lord, hear this prayer for our Nation.
 Amen.

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NEW CROSSES

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The images above were created from

the photo at the top, utilizing a wonderful

little piece of software titled "Kaleider."

Inexpensive, incredibly versatile, and fun to boot.

Go to whizical.com.

If you contact tech support (by PHONE or e-mail),

Jeff Holcomb, the INVENTOR, is your advisor (??!!!??).

No, I am not a paid shill for the company,

I just love tools for the imagination.

"Kaleider" is just one of a number of graphics

programs that Jeff has developed.

This is real, real neat stuff.

THE YOGA OF THE CROSS

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From the New Testament:

Jesus proclaimed aloud: 'Whoever believes

in me is actually believing not in me but in Him

who sent me. And whoever sees me is seeing

Him who sent me. As Light have I come

into the world so that no one who believes in me

need remain in darkness.

If anyone hears my words, and does not

keep them, I am not the one to condemn him;

for I did not come to condemn the world

but to save it. Whoever rejects me and

does not accept my words already

has his judge, namely, the word

that I have spoken - that is what will

condemn him on the last day, because

it was not on my own that I spoke.

No, the Father who sent me has Himself

commanded me what to say and

how to speak, and I know that his

commandment is Eternal Life.

So when I speak, I speak

just as the Father told me.'

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John (12:44-50)

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As far as Jesus Christ is concerned,

the right preparation consists in dying

to one's self will, and in denying oneself,

so that one could obey the will of God.

His yoga consists of this; and of this

the cross is the supreme symbol.

Whether or not it corresponds to any

actual method of killing Jesus, the enormous

psychological and spiritual significance

of the cross cannot be exaggerated.

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Every moment, whenever a man is present

to it, he is at a crossing;

at this point of crossing he chooses whether

to remain in the horizontal plane of the world

or to be yoked to the way of the Christ

and follow the vertical axis of being.

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From CHRIST THE YOGI - A Hindu Reflection

on The Gospel of John, by Ravi Ravindra

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