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Author's Note: If you are not a religious person, you may want to stop reading
now. Please do not tell me I'm wrong, or
criticize me. This is what I believe. You are free to believe anything you want.
I am very disturbed right now. I just went shopping at Akbar's for a cross -- a
normal cross, nothing fancy -- to express my love for God. What I got when I typed
"cross" in the search bar at Akbar's persuaded me to write this article.
I saw a
"cool cross," an "awesome cross," a "wacky cross," and for heaven's sake a pink
cross with ribbons! I think the people that designed these have missed the
point. This is not what I believe the cross symbolizes.
Here is what I believe:
I believe that the cross symbolizes both sorrow and joy. Sorrow, of
course because Jesus died. This is why I didn't like the "cool cross," because
what happened on the cross was not exactly cool.
But joy, you ask? Why joy?
Jesus died on the cross! That is not joyful! Well, no, that isn't joyful. But
the reason he died, God's will, is what is joyful. Jesus died to save us. He
died so that our sins, all our sins, would be forgiven. The sins you make 20
years from now are already forgiven!
Just remember that that doesn't give you the right to go and sin, or
to not pray for forgiveness, though.
The other joyful thing? The Resurrection!
"He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended
into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from
thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead."
--Luther's Small Catechism
The Creed (that's what the paragraph above is from) explains it all.
Jesus went to hell because he had sinned, he was carrying the world's sins,
because he was forgiving them all. But he served his punishment, and now sits at
the right hand of God.It's really hard for me to explain all of this to
you, because if you didn't grow up learning this then I'll bet you're completely
confused. What I am basically trying to say is, when you go to design a cross,
think of what it symbolizes. Do you think that a pink cross with ribbons is what
the buyer is looking for? I doubt it. If someone was looking for a cross for the
reason I was, because they believe in God and want to express their love for Him
on Whyville, they wouldn't want a pink one.
Lata dayz,
Dream02
*sings* The King of Glory comes the nation rejoices....
Editor's Note: I don't want to cast any opinions at your article, Dream02
-- I respect your feelings about your spiritual life -- I do want to
make a comment on what you said in your Author's Note at the beginning.?? By
writing in to the Times, you're offering up your opinions for the public to
read.?? It's not fair to stand on the soapbox and then ask that no one
criticize or analyze what you said.?? That's like telling folks not to think
about it, just accept it.?? I think maybe you meant to request that folks
not be mean-spirited in responding to your thoughts, and that's fair to ask.??
Nasty comments in the Times BBS can be deleted by city workers or 911-reported, as can Y-mail.
But when you write into the Times, or say something in chat, please always keep in mind that others have the right to say you're wrong, if
that's what they believe.?? Sometimes when that happens it's best for
everybody to agree to
disagree... but in the best cases, we are able to discuss our differences, find
out our similarities, and possibly even convince other people that we're right
-- or, indeed, realize that we ourselves are wrong.?? It's all part of the
Whyville Way. :-)
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