Tuesday 15 January 2013

To wear a cross?

I see that someone In Brussels this morning has to decide whether it is right to wear a cross in public! The first thing that came to mind was "Brave new world" what Aldous Huxley would have described as thought police.
But the decision to wear a cross may not be on a day to day basis. One person Involved has worn her cross for 30 years....so it's no longer a decision she takes every day.
I have several different crosses and wear one most days though often they are hidden under my clothes.
For me it has the same purpose as saying a prayer or crossing myself.....it's not just a statement of faith, it's protection I think.
I would never stop anyone from wearing a religious symbol.....our various faiths are who we are and are important to us. As well as my cross I often wear the little silver Buddha my son gave me...so there are mixed messages if you like but both are examples of things that I value.
On this week of Christian unity it seems ironic that we have even to think about not wearing a cross lest it offends someone....it's hard to imagine that some people could be actually offended.....I am not offended by Muslim symbols or Jewish ones.....in this great melting pot of humanity those of us with faith are surely at one with those who have a belief that is different. There is only one God, just many different ways of reaching Him and I believe all are valid.
All symbols are just in the end artifacts, some valuable, some not but have massive importance for those who wear them. In the end it's down to respect.....tolerance and love....all us human beings are different....it's essential that we are, it's part of our evolutionary pattern for our species...humans will survive because of our differences not in spite of them..

1 comment:

Martin Ryeland (Tregea) said...

Marcus Minucius Felix rhetorical text "Ciceroian in style" Octavius
AD150-270 chapters IX & XXIX
Terullian Contemporary (De Carne Christi) credo qui ineptum-"CrucisReligiosi" devotees of the cross
Clement of Alexandria d211-216 "to kupiakov onueiov" The Lords Sign

Some of the earliest christian symbols to be found in the catacombs beneath Rome are those of fish.