Crosses are everywhere. I see them spiraling above houses of worship. I see them as pendants, rings, earrings, and stickpins. They decorate coffee cups and writing pens. Crosses come in countless styles to hang on walls as home decor. They enhance book covers, hang from car mirrors, and are decaled to car windows and bumpers. Furniture displays engraved Crosses.

I see them on every conceivable type of nick-knack, displayed in picture frames and used throughout cemeteries. I repeat—crosses are everywhere. Why this obsession with a device designed to execute criminals and political dissidents?

My thoughts return to a hill outside of Jerusalem. Three crosses stood against the dark horizon. A deeper darkness enveloped those who saw hope nailed to a cross. Hope’s bright light had gone out. Those who stood nearby could never have imagined the brilliance of the soon-to-come Sunday morning when hope would rise anew.

Fastened by nails on three crosses hung a scoundrel, a repentant thief, and the Son of God. Crosses in today’s commercial world have their origin in that act on the hill when evil men put to death a perfect man—perfect God. Today’s crosses pay homage to perfect Jesus—Son of God—not to the criminals who hung to his right and his left.

Crosses are everywhere. I sometimes wonder if my constant exposure to countless commercial crosses causes me to see a cross without pausing to reflect on its meaning. How horrible it would be to see the cross as just another nick-knack.

I once had breakfast with a fellow believer who shared this story.

A “church” in a neighboring rural community purchased a building from “a rival church.” The building came complete with a steep, pitched roof and a rather large cross extending to the heavens.

The new owners found nothing in their Bibles about crosses on church buildings. Therefore, the cross must go. However, the deacons did not own a ladder of sufficient length. Problem solved: After the Sunday potluck, their high-powered hunting rifles would serve a dual purpose. They blew the cross to smithereens so now they could follow the Bible.

How sad it would be to look at a cross and fail to remember what God did for me through Jesus with his death by horrific crucifixion. May the cross never become so common that I blast it out of my life by seeing it yet not seeing it.

What are your reflections?  Would you share some cross talk?

Gary Sorrells