The Cross Proves Everything

Crux Probat omnia

The Cross proves everything!

Richard Rohr suggests in one of his books

that the key to making it through our pain

through our struggles to make sense out of life,

is to "gaze upon" (John 19:37) the crucified on with contemplative eyes

not a brief horrified glance

but a long, contemplative 

persistent look

When we do this, he insists, we are always healed at deep levels of pain

The cross is a time of suffering

a mystery
divine and human suffering

but it is a transforming suffering
for it shows a new way forward
for in the suffering is forgiveness
and love
not retribution and hate

in the cross we are forced to see God in the other
God in ourselves,
and God, in a new way

in the cross we see that we need to let the mystery
of what is happening on that cross
become part of our pattern

on the cross a good but not wholly true (or at least revealed) Jesus died
and a greater one rises (Christ)
Jesus died, Christ rises

our problem is us
it is our view of ourselves
it is the not wholly true self, the ego that we hang on to,
but also battle -
we fight to be perfect, and fear that we are total chaos

we cannot live, hanging between

we need to let the self die
let go of the self we keep trying so hard to be
and let God
let God, love, forgive
transform
and lift us up