The Cross

The cross is a tragedy. Just a tragedy. The cross leads to an examination of empire, government, violence, and hierarchy. These things led to the torture and murder of Jesus Christ, a figure of central importance to many of us. The cross leads me to consider the ways that I am complicit or contributing to violence and hierarchy. Kingdom life is the response to the cross.

I’m not interested in glorifying the violence of the crucifixion as some “greater good” and I don’t believe in “salvation” as some act once and forever.

Salvation is about now. NOW. What am I doing with my life? Who am I saving? I need to save myself from complicity in empire, poor government, violence, and hierarchy. I need to help others resist these systems as well. That is how I build the kingdom.

I have never experienced a God who is self-flagellant; I have experienced a God who helps me to resist my own self-destruction and violence in general. I have never experienced a God who is judgmental or angry. I have experienced a God who is intimately— on a cellular level— involved in everything. My awaking to that reality of God allows me to see it in everyone and everything. It is my job to love all of it in a meaningful way. If I am not respecting my planet and my fellow beings, I am disrespecting God. God is the least of these. God is the “all of these”. God is beyond is and within us, but only one of those aspects is one I can truly wrap my head around: the within.