THE CROSSES OFF HIGHWAY 107

.

 .

  "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 

.

. 

 .

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.  
.

 . 

 “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

.

 .

 .

 .

 “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

. 

.

.

.

 .

"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}  

.

  .

 . 

.

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

.

 .

 .

.

 . 

“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 

.

.

 . . 

.

 . 

 .

. 

 .

 .

“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

.

  . 

 .

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:
 .

. 

 .

.

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."

. 

 .

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

.

 .

..

NEW MEXICO'S HOLY SANTOS

.

For the most part, the santeros led holy lives; it was thought that

the more religious the santero, the more powerful his saints.

There simply were not enough priests to minister to the devoted

in this large geographic area. 

Chuck Rosenak, The Saint Makers, 1997

 .

Edited from newmexicoexplorer.com 

.

To understand New Mexico history, we have to look at the role devotional art held for the people. This is art that has been important throughout the centuries, continuing to the present day. Its imagery is pervasive throughout New Mexico, and the meaning it holds today is just as strong as it was in the 1500s.  

  .

.

Spanish explorers first came to New Mexico in the 1530’s, but they did not find the Seven Cities of Gold they thought existed. They returned to Spain, but in 1598, Juan de Onate commanded an expedition, which brought them back to New Mexico. The Espanoles, as the original Spanish settlers of colonial New Mexico were called, lived in accord with cultural traditions recreated from the memory of Catholic Spain. Because the inhabitants were so isolated, they would reenact old religious dramas, sing traditional hymns, and say prayers, living an old world lifestyle structured very much like traditional Spanish village life of the sixteenth century. 

.

.

 The religious art that embodied the spirit and aspirations of

 New Mexico Catholics include painted and sculpted images of

 celestial beings—divine, angelic, and human—that adorned

 churches, chapels, and homes. This art formed a vital part of

 Hispanic religious tradition that harkened back to the Middle

 Ages. The early settlers maintained memories and associations

 of the religious art in Spain or New Spain, much of which

 reflected an already outmoded sixteenth-century

 provincial style.

.

 .

Once every three years Franciscans and Hispanic merchants from the colony sent trade goods to Mexico City in exchange for supplies. Occasionally, the caravans returning to New Mexico contained a few santos (meaning, ‘image of a saint’) from the workshops of Mexico. However, the small supply of imported santos could not begin to satisfy the desire of the Hispanics for these religious objects.

During the Pueblo Revolt of 1680—a province-wide rebellion in which drove the Spanish out of New Mexico—all of the religious objects in the province had been destroyed. Then, in 1692 and 1693, the Spanish, led by Don Diego de Vargas, returned to New Mexico and reconquered the Pueblo Indians.

.

Soon, the new settlers began building towns and villages, each with a chapel. During this period of reconciliation, the Spanish and Pueblos formed an economic and political alliance to protect the province from attacks by Plains and other nomadic Indians who periodically raided New Mexico.

.

.

In the first half of the eighteenth century, some religious art began to appear in households and churches of the province, a few locally crafted. Until this time, religious artifacts had been primarily imported from Spain and Mexico. New Mexican religious art at that time consisted primarily of paintings on hides and skins, some fashioned by local artisans and the clergy, and oil paintings on canvas imported from Mexico. In addition to producing religious images on hide, the Franciscans also influenced the creation of wooden santos by the first known santeros. The santero deviated from the traditional Spanish style by painting on wooden boards instead of on canvas.

.

.

 The demand for santos stimulated a continual succession of native santeros who began to produce images around 1790 and whose works were essentially free from the older Spanish baroque style. Their interpretations were made within the context of the social, cultural, and spiritual influences of New Mexico. These regional santeros established a decidedly unique New Mexican style of santo. At that time, there numbered perhaps seven thousand households, each supplied with at least one santo and possibly two or more. Each village, with its church, chapel, and morada probably had dozens. Thus, it is likely that New Mexicans produced well over ten thousand santos during this era when santo making was a    thriving cottage industry.

. 

.

  .

As Christians, New Mexicans did not worship the saints such as Mary, Michael, or Anthony as deities; they revered them as beings who served as intermediaries and means of communication between individuals and God. However, besides being regarded as heavenly intercessors, the saints had personalized functions or powers ordained by God that they could use at their own discretion. Thus, the saints could be petitioned in case of special needs.

.

.

.

The popularity of specific saints depended upon their function as intercessors, benefactors, or protectors; to alleviate some grave and constant need, to offer something hoped for, or to protect against something feared. To alleviate a sense of powerlessness, they turned to the celestial hierarchy to help them realize their hopes and protect them. Thus, a santo is not only an aesthetic object to adorn a home; it is also a utilitarian object with a particular function.

.

. 

 At baptism each Catholic took the name of a patron saint. The godparents, rather than the parents, often chose the namesake. Since each of the saints had distinctive powers, the Hispanics treated them as valued friends and even as members of the extended family. They often talked to the saints as they would speak to members of the family, and they instinctively involved them in family affairs. A villager would take the figure of Saint John the Baptist out on June 24, for example, to bless the irrigation ditches. Today, Hispanic villagers still carry a statue of the patron saint around the town during the annual fiesta.

These New Mexican santos constitute the only monumental religious art that European America can claim as part of its own heritage. Nothing comparable exists from New England, as the Puritan forefathers forbade the creation and use of most religious images.
(Editor's note: Today the art of the santeros is
alive and thriving, as you can see from some of
the examples here.  The styles have gone
 through growth and change, but the
essence seems the same.)

  .

.

.

 

. 

.

. 

.

.

.

. 

. 

.

.

 

.

. 

.

.
.

.