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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HERE COMES SUMMER

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We praise You, Lord, for all Your creatures,
especially for  Brother Sun,
who brings the day; through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
of You, Most High, he bears the likeness.

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St. Francis of Assisi

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A Summer Blessing

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May you walk with God
This summer
In whatever you do
Wherever you go

Walking with God means...
Walking with honesty
And with courage,
Walking with love
And respect
And concern for the feelings of others

May you talk to God
This summer
And every day and
In every situation

Talking with God means...
Praying words of praise
For the beauty of creation
Saying prayers of thanks
For friends and good times,
Asking God's help
In all your decisions
Expressing sorrow
When you have failed

May you talk with God
Every day.

   Amen.
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Annette Sherwood

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Great and living Aten, ordaining life, vigorously alive, our father. Our wall of millions of cubits, our reminder of eternity, our witness of what is eternal. Who fashions himself with his own hands, whom no craftsman has devised. Who is established in rising and setting each day ceaselessly. Whether he is in heaven, or on earth, every eye beholds him without hindrance, whilst he fills the land with his rays and enables everyone to live. With seeing whom, our eyes are satisfied daily in this Temple of the Aten and fills it with his own self by means of his rays, beauteous with love, and embraces us with them in life and power forever. 

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Ancient Egyptian Prayer
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Dear God, give us the brains to use some sunscreen!

Amen.
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ANOTHER SUMMER PAST

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Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,

especially through my lord Brother Sun,

who brings the day; and you give light through him.

And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!

Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

From "The Canticle of the Sun"

St. Francis of Assissi

THE PATRON SAINT OF WINDSURFING

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It's almost Summer and so it's time to

rerun the "Windsurfing Prayer" Blog

we had up last year, plus or minus

a photo or two. WHOOOSSHHH!

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The Patron Saint of Windsurfing

by John Rutledge

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Ever been so deperate for a wind fix that you'd do just about anything--sacrifice a virgin, say a prayer to a patron saint? But virgins are scarce, their parents usually object, and exactly who is the patron saint of windsurfing anyway?

As far as I can tell, no saint has been named the official patron of windsurfing. Skaters have Saint Lidwina of Schiedam in the Netherlands (natch). Skiers have St. Bernard of Montjoux. Sailors, boatmen, and watermen have long had a patron in Saint Brendan the Navigator. St. Brendan sailed the North Atlantic with his band of monks. Possibly they even reached America. Once they stopped on a small island, lit a fire, and began to say Mass, only to discover that the island was a whale.

Maybe we should adopt St. Brendan as the patron saint of windsurfing. The patron saint of windsurfing should be used to unpleasant surprises. The American connection is good even it it's only a remote possibility. St. Brendan's day falls on May 16, timing well with the height of the windsurfing season, at least here on the East Coast.

St. Christopher is another good candidate. Since he carried the Christ Child across a stream, he has a water connection, but no wind. And St. Christopher is rather much overdone. I won't put a plastic St. Christopher on my dashboard until a wind connection is better established.Of course the Virgin Mary can be asked to bring wind, but she's used for everything. A cult of devotion to Our Lady, Star of the Sea already exists. This devotion tends to focus on perils of the sea and hardships endured by people who make their living from the sea. Maybe good for professional windsurfers, but not right for us recreational windsurfers and week-end warriors who mostly work at other jobs so we can windsurf occasionally.St. Jude might be the logical choice. The obvious connection between needing wind on weekends and "lost causes" is too painful to require any comment. St. Jude may just be your man, er. .. saint.

Maybe the ideal saint hasn't been produced yet? How many certified miracles are required for sainthood nowadays? What would qualify as a miracle in windsurfing? Yours truly makes one hundred jibes in a row in rough chop at Jordan Lake? As the result of fervent and heart-felt prayers, we have two perfect days in July at Jordan?

What should the pagans among us do? Classical Antiquity had wind gods for the four prime directions and Aeolus was their keeper-or at least he tried to keep them in order. You want a good nor'easter? Boreas, the god of the North Wind, might listen to you. We rarely see east winds around here. Perhaps we have been neglecting Eurus, god of the East Wind.Greek sailors customarily poured out a portion of wine onto the ground as a sacrifice to the wind gods before setting sail. A glass of Chateau Neuf du Pape seems a small enough price to pay for a good day of windsurfing. Sadly, we have little objective data about the effectiveness of offering wine to the wind gods. So, what's desperate windsurfer to do when he needs a wind fix? Pray!

O great Saint Brendan, grant me just two hours of good, steady windthis afternoon between 2 and 4 p.m.Did you mean Brendan of Birr or Brendan the Navigator?Brendan the Navigator, of course.Well, this is Brendan of Birr. Too bad, no wind for you today.

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Appeared first in MindJibe May 2002

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