Hidden Cross

My wife and I enjoyed a warm sunny walk on Christmas Day yesterday. It was a walk that we had taken many times over the days before, but there was something different on this day.

Jeanette spotted the difference first. She slowed her walk and stopped. "Look, there is a cross." I scoured the woods in answer to her pointing finger and saw nothing at first. I only saw a thick growth of trees with limbs denuded of foliage intersecting each other's boney fingers.

"Where?" I said. Then like the illustrative puzzle of 'Where's Waldo', my eyes focused on a man-made cross obscured by the thick woods. It stood about eight feet tall. No clearing or paths surrounding the Christian symbol were noticeable. We had passed by this reminder many times before on previous walks and were oblivious to it.

I took several photos on my iPhone of the lonely sentinel, and then a sudden sadness gripped my heart. The imagery of the Cross and seemingly plaintive desperate dead branches reached out, all but obscuring the Cross.

In my mind, I saw the tree branches as a vivid reminder of today's nation. Covid, politics, crime, economy, the flood of migrants at our border, and the Afghanistan debacle have set the stage for incivility, anger, profanity, racial protests, and hatred. The nation has embraced division, even among families and friends. And even among the Christian family. The intertwining limbs of the thicket have hidden the Cross. We seem to be in a social and cultural war that brings out the worst in us. For the most part, Christians battle not for Jesus but to dignify or prop up our cultural lifestyle.

To be sure, we need to defend the Gospel, but ask ourselves, do our tweets, texts, or Facebook pronouncements glorify our Lord or try to take down ones who think differently? I confess, my anger at unbelievers (who I equate as social progressives, Marxists, mean bitter endorsers of the cancel culture) often prevails when I hear or read those of them who treat me with disdain.

I, too, become one of the dead branches that play a part in obscuring the empty Cross. It is empty because He rose and gave me much-needed salvation. All He has ever asked of me is to be obedient in love for others and share what I have found.

The 'hidden cross' served to convict me of my failure to treat others who do not hold my views as enemies. No matter what they think of me, how much they hate me or try to destroy me, I just love them, show them why we celebrate the birth of our Savior, and not fall prey to casting a shadow on the Cross that called me. Jesus set the example in His interactions with people bent on His destruction. He returned love and the offer of salvation. We must ask ourselves, are we to go a different way?

My New Year resolution is to direct ALL to Jesus. Merry Christmas to the readers of this blog, whether you agree with me or not.

Hidden Cross