"sabbatical - day ten and the stations of the cross"
it's been interesting
having this retreat at a Catholic mission. obviously,
i'm not Catholic and have never been able to
understand Catholicism much. out of curiosity, i
looked into it at one time. i wanted to understand
where all of the rituals, rules and traditions of the
Catholic church had come from. (since i couldn't find
them anywhere in the Bible.) it was interesting to
find that many of them were adapted from other
mystical religions because Constantine (who adopted
Christianity for the Roman Empire) didn't want to
make it too hard for people to convert. so, they kept
things like rosary beads, a hierarchy with bishops
and a pope and certain prayers and just changed the
names and meanings to fit Christianity. (obviously,
the very simplified version... but still pretty
accurate.) anyway, that was always hard for me to
swallow as it seems like the perfect example of
taking a simple relationship and offering of
salvation and turning it into religion with rules and
traditions that actually have nothing to do with the
relationship that was originally offered. however,
it's true that God can take anything and use it for
good. i've seen that in the last day here.
one thing that the Catholic church loves is its iconography. this is where we get the prevalent image of the cross. (we don't even question it. but we don't put up little electric chairs or bullets to remember others who have died. for some reason, displaying the method of torture and death when it involves Christ is considered normal and even spiritual.) the Catholic church took this instrument of death and turned it into a symbol of sacrifice and beauty. it's also a symbol of remembrance.
this morning, we were given a piece of paper with the 14 stations of the cross listed on it. each one had a short description and something to think and pray about. around a field, behind the mission, there is a road with the 14 stations of the cross. we were asked to walk the road, stopping at each station to read and pray. i was a little averse to this at first. i was wrong to be.
God took something out of someone else's religious background and used it in my life in a real way. the stations of the cross had/have me dealing with and processing issues of sacrifice, forgiveness, loss, injustice, failure, the needs of others, kindness and selfishness. it really became a time of intense self-reflection. it also highlighted a few things in my life that i need to deal with and work through with Him.
anyway, if you get a chance to do something like that... something that feels out of the ordinary or a little unfamiliar, don't pass it up. God can use it to change you in amazing ways.
also, we had breakfast and saw the largest rose i've ever seen in my life.
one thing that the Catholic church loves is its iconography. this is where we get the prevalent image of the cross. (we don't even question it. but we don't put up little electric chairs or bullets to remember others who have died. for some reason, displaying the method of torture and death when it involves Christ is considered normal and even spiritual.) the Catholic church took this instrument of death and turned it into a symbol of sacrifice and beauty. it's also a symbol of remembrance.
this morning, we were given a piece of paper with the 14 stations of the cross listed on it. each one had a short description and something to think and pray about. around a field, behind the mission, there is a road with the 14 stations of the cross. we were asked to walk the road, stopping at each station to read and pray. i was a little averse to this at first. i was wrong to be.
God took something out of someone else's religious background and used it in my life in a real way. the stations of the cross had/have me dealing with and processing issues of sacrifice, forgiveness, loss, injustice, failure, the needs of others, kindness and selfishness. it really became a time of intense self-reflection. it also highlighted a few things in my life that i need to deal with and work through with Him.
anyway, if you get a chance to do something like that... something that feels out of the ordinary or a little unfamiliar, don't pass it up. God can use it to change you in amazing ways.
also, we had breakfast and saw the largest rose i've ever seen in my life.