The Nazarene Cross

I believe in the Nazarene Cross.

The Nazarene Cross is not the cross of salvation.

It is the cross of suffering, aimed not to save anyone who believes in it but instead symbolizes the help to others done by those who live by its principles.

It is a cross that is black - the absence of color, for it recognizes no color, ethnicity, race.

It is a cross with no intricacies - its premise is not based on materiosity and worldiness.

It has no INRI on top for it needs not be known.

It has no sacrosanct personality in the middle, spreading out fo rthe world to see holy wounds for it is empty, until you decide to fill the void with your own.

It is a cross that cannot be found in the great stone churches, nor in the facade of any icon for it has no religion. It is the cross that is found in the shadows left by the great towering crosses under the sunlight. It does not look down from spires but instead serve as footprints on the ground.

It is the good Samaritan's cross.

The Nazarene cross. The cross that does not do miracles. It is not the cure but the burden we take on for others. It will not take you up to calvary, for you shall carry it on the way to your goal.

For in believing Jesus did not want us to worship him, but be like him, in word, deeds and life. He does not want us to be at the foot of the cross by his teachings.

He wants us in the cross with him - not as a condition of sacrifice for eternal life rewarded, but as a reward in itself, in it's joy in selflessness.

That's how I see the cross. what is it to you?

Back in 2002 a friend gave me a neclace with a black cross with a black host in its centre. She gave no explanation as to what it is for, in wearing it and reflecting in it, I gave it its own meaning. I've come to call it the Nazarene Cross, for its color is black, like the Nazareno statue of a blackened Jesus bearing the cross.