Posted by Kevin Bates on April 13, 2006, 1:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Whose Cross are we Carrying?" Thanks again Cathy. --Previous Message--
Thanks a lot Cathy - you have a wonderful Easter too. I couldn't agree more - none of us meant to do the doormat thing, or to live without respect, or without enjoying the journey. Enjoyment, fun, delighting in God's gifts are as much a part of our tradition as the suffering bits!!Hence the Easter celebration.
: I would like to thank you both, Kevin and Jo,
: for your reflections which have helped me to
: further think through this matter of what it
: really means to "carry our cross".
: I think the main point for me is something
: that Jo also touched on: that "carrying
: our cross" in the authentic Gospel
: sense should be life-giving not just for
: those around us, but for ourselves as well.
: What I am especially thinking of here is
: family life, which, as you know, is my
: particular "hobby horse"! A person
: might be in a family situation which looks
: as if they are living a life of self-giving
: love (e.g., caring for a child or other
: family member who has a serious disability),
: but if this leaves them just being a
: doormat, or some-one else's life-support
: system, I think we have to question whether
: they are really "carrying the
: cross" in the Gospel sense, or whether
: they are a victim of social injustice!
:
: By the way, Kevin, I really love your song,
: "For Love of Me Dad", which so
: perfectly expresses the idea of taking up
: your cross in response to overwhelming love.
: It is of course particularly inspiring at
: this time of year.
:
: I hope that you, Kevin, and Jo, and all
: visitors to this web-site, experience the
: abundant blessings and joys and hope which
: Jesus' death and resurrection have made
: possible for us.
:
: CATHY.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Now that we are in Holy Week, it might be a
: good time to bring up something which has
: long bothered me and which I’m hoping you,
: Kevin, or some-one else “out there” might be
: able to help me sort out. As we are
: particularly conscious of at this time of
: year, a very central part of being a
: disciple of Jesus is our willingness to take
: up our cross and follow him. Over the
: centuries, it seems this has come to mean
: that we accept whatever suffering comes our
: way – we even have the well-worn expression,
: “one’s cross”, meaning one’s particular
: bundle of troubles or difficulties. Yet,
: if you read the Gospels, this doesn’t seem
: to be what Jesus was talking about at all!
: Of course, in the early Church, following
: Jesus could literally mean facing death, as
: Jesus himself did. But even apart from
: this, taking up one’s cross in the Gospel
: sense seems to imply that it is something
: which we take up willingly; it seems to mean
: embracing the difficulties and disadvantages
: that come from living according to the
: values of God’s kingdom, not those of this
: world. I strongly suspect that once
: Christianity became an “official” religion,
: it was used as a tool for keeping people in
: their place, rather than challenging the
: mainstream values which put them in that
: place! In the past, people were encouraged
: to accept a grossly inequitable society on
: the basis that God had supposedly ordered it
: that way and put everyone in their proper
: place. As children, we were taught to
: “offer up” our sufferings (certainly not to
: question them!), and I think there is still
: some of that attitude around.
:
: However, what particularly concerns me
: nowadays is what all this implies for us as
: we grapple with thorny moral issues such as
: euthanasia, abortion, foetal stem cell
: research, etc. The Catholic Church, and some
: other religious bodies, tend to staunchly
: oppose these new developments, although many
: people take issue with the Church’s
: position, since “surely a compassionate God
: doesn’t want people to suffer”. I don’t
: want to go into the rights and wrongs of
: these difficult issues, but I, too, would
: have thought that God doesn’t want people to
: suffer. Does being a Christian – taking up
: one’s cross – mean that we should be more
: willing than other people to embrace
: suffering of any kind? Or should we only
: embrace the sort of suffering that comes
: from devoting our lives to God’s kingdom, to
: opposing whatever dehumanizes people and
: causes suffering? I would have thought the
: latter! If that is what Church leaders are
: intending to convey to us, they need to make
: their position clearer.
:
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