Dear Friends,
Today we contemplate the mystery of the cross.
It reminds us how we fall short, how we fail. It is a reminder of death and pain, shame and vulnerability. A reminder of all that is wrong in our lives and in the world.
It reminds us that governments will wrongly imprison a person, run roughshod over human dignity, then wash their hands. It reminds us that out of fear, too many—us?—will yell “Crucify him!” It reminds us that out of indifference, too many—us?—will walk past suffering.
We might rather skip this day and head straight to Easter. The world certainly does, rushing to bunnies and Easter baskets.
But the cross also promises us that we have a God who knows suffering and is with us in it. The cross promises that no matter how deep our pain, we are never alone.
So, don’t skip the cross.
For the cross tells us that despite ourselves, despite the worst that we or the world offers, God can do more. God in Jesus took in all the worst–our pain, our selfishness, our sorrow, our cruelty—and rather than responding with violence and judgment, God absorbed and transformed it all, declaring us free and forgiven, changing our pasts and our futures with this universe-altering act of forgiveness and love.
We don’t want to look at the cross. But it’s the only hope we have.
Today, gaze upon the cross and allow your heart to be broken open, just as God’s heart and Son were broken on the cross.
And, then, come Easter, you’ll be ready.
Faithfully, Suzanne+