A few days back I had a short chat with a sister. And the thing that touched me the most was her simple and loving explanation of the hardships and troubles of life that we all must go through. She showed me the cross she was wearing around her neck, she showed the side on which was Christ crucified and then turned over the cross and showed the plain side, that’s the place for us.
It is on the other side of the cross, that we too must crucify ourselves, as the loving disciples of Christ, and His children. Every time you are persecuted, each time that you are mocked, you are on the other side of the cross. If your master was mocked, betrayed, framed in false charges, beaten, persecuted, harassed, what makes you think that you won’t also be persecuted and mocked and betrayed?
And just look at the beauty of it all, He has left the other side for you. This way you will be joined with Christ in an inseparable way, the lance that pierced His side will pierce your heart too, connecting you and Him together as one. The world may take away all else from you, but you will not be separated from the love of Christ.
Today take out some time, to meditate on the crucifix, look at the Savior who gave up His all, and then turn the cross, see the other side of it, it’s plain, its empty, its a space reserved for you. Not because God wants you to suffer, but because He loves you so much that He does not want to be separated from you in your sufferings. He wants to embrace your suffering self and weave your sufferings into His, taking away all that ails you, and turning it into a love filled gift.
So when the next time you are assailed with hopelessness of your situation, just look at the other side of the cross!
Thanks Manuel! I will surely check out your blog...
ReplyDeleteInteresting .. I would love to read more for you ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ahmed! You may want to follow my blog for regular updates...
DeleteHello Rujuta,
ReplyDeleteCongrats...!!! And thanks for providing me a very good thought for my meditation today...
I have meditated the same thought many times. Shared it too. Even with JY Baroda, years back. But not in such a depth.
Hope you remember me. Continue your good work through blog and writings. All the best. Keeping you in prayers. God bless you.
with love and prayers,
Fr. Sanoj Joy
Thank you father... :)
DeleteGod bless you!
Love,
Rujuta
Hey hi , I have actually tagged on my blog here , Please go through and keep up the good work
ReplyDeletehttp://xs2rahulz.blogspot.in/2012/07/tagged-again.html
Sure thing! Thanks for the tag Rahul...
DeleteA very nice thought Rujuta. I am proud of you and for that I am taking liberty to show you the next step.
ReplyDeleteI did what you asked; I did meditate on the cross, both sides!
When I did it an imaginary scene of crucifixion came alive and I realised that there is no beauty in the scene because I am so scared and timid watching him die. I became the crowd who willingly or unwillingly let Christ die on cross. Just like the crowd I found myself bound with belief systems which stop me to bring him down when he was still alive on cross. How can I let Christ die! It filled me with grief.
Next day I did the meditation same scene repeated itself but this time I brought him back alive, we both were walking down the Calvary hill and he asked me, "Why you brought me down son!" I replied "Because if I were on a cross you would have done the same." He laughed. At the end of the session both side of cross were plain.
Everyone understands the Good Friday as the ultimate sacrifice I understand it differently. It’s just different prospective.
Theology is called study of god and it separates itself from spirituality. When one reads bible understands one thing straight that what Christ did for 40 days, he separated himself from everything else and meditated. He meditated on himself which is the easiest way to understand creator. He understood it and then the purpose of his life was revealed. He boldly asked us to do the same.
When you meditate on the crucifix separate yourself from other belief systems the natural response of yours is the will of god.
Kindly define 'belief system' please....
DeleteIn the time of Christ the famous belief system was speaking different then the Jew priest means denying temple and denying GOD thus, No-one dared braking it! No one asked questions and accepted savior's killing as a ultimate sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteThe human kind had a conscious choice to act against a murder. that was the test for us to understand free will.
belief system is a factor that effects, alters and\or influences and manipulates someone's conscious choice or free will.
A simple example is : In order to get good marks one has to study hard. (without giving any scope to develop free will) If a student likes it or not doesn't matter.
Why I have to study hard>to get good marks>Why that?> To get good job> Why that?> To be prosperous> Why that?>To be happy.
The process should be [Study that what makes you happy and every other thing will follow]
But being happy is just a state of mind and it has to do with a choice to be happy. A person is always free to be happy or sad, its just a choice. Everything else is just belief system which gives a probability to be happy in short or long FUTURE. Free will gives us power to be happy right NOW!
Every choice gives us experience (either good or bad) and that again leads us to another choice.
The God's gift of free will is taken away from people and now is traded away with safety, approval, prosperity or sometimes mare survival.
Very few teachers are left on earth to teach free will, one was hanged on cross recently almost 2000 years ago.
Do you agree!
Before I respond, just a few more questions for you, I am a free willed, open minded person, and I do not debate with any one less than that. An open mind, ALWAYS, listens, understands, and considers another person's point of view without feeling threatened or insecure about losing a battle.
DeleteI hope you are that 'free willed' and 'open minded' person.
The other question is super simple, I am not here to convert you, hope you are not here to convert me either...
What a lovely treatment of the subject of suffering.
ReplyDeletethanks Robert...
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou misunderstand dear one,
ReplyDeleteIf one shows us a path we don't want to explore doesn't mean that someone has to be insecure of losing battle. There is no battle.
Again its all about choice and experience.
I respect your choice even if whatever I think about it! Its the beauty of freewill, and respecting a person's choice and not respecting an imposed belief-system are two different things.
Allow me to share one recent incident.
Me and my wife went for a small vacation to a french city of Quebec. There was a french couple I wanted them to take a photograph of me and my wife in that beautiful old structures of french architectures. I somehow managed to communicate my thought with that french couple and they gladly accepted. after taking our photo the lady asked where I am from and what religion I do follow. I told them that I am from India and I am a catholic and they asked if my wife were also a catholic. I said no she is not. By knowing this that lady told to, 'then why don't you save her from the last judgement?' I had to reply that she has already been saved, she is my good Samaritan.
[He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27]
A belief system which doesn't allow me to follow god how can it allow me to learn from Christ?
I understand god differently that is my freewill if that allows me to get out of a loop of belief system I didn't create, that is the experience I want.
when I was young I always had trouble understanding my grandfather. he rarely had gone to church yet he had published many wonderful books to share the knowledge of god out of his own pocket! After so many years now I understand what he understood. I don't need belief system to follow god I only need knowledge how to follow god.
I hope your freewill and open mindedness does allow you to debate with people who are not credulous.
First of all... You have your own belief system... Agnosticism or Skepticism is still kind of an organized religion.
DeleteIf is the belief system tells me that murder is crime, and I have the freewill to murder, does that justify my action under the clock of defying belief system and calling it an action of my freewill?
Freewill, is to have the control over self to not give in to desires detrimental to oneself and those around us.
Catholicism is not a 'belief system' to bind a human and his/her thinking, infact, it is the way to freedom.
As for your grandfather, I do not know what you have analyzed from his behavior and actions since I haven't spent much time with him.
I do not know what has made you develop your own belief system and your convictions, but dearest child of God(with capital G) I really cannot understand what is in Luke 10:27 that does not allow you to Know, Love, Follow God?
And why is it that you find Catholicism is the only 'belief system' that irks you? What about other beliefs?
And my dear man... Next time be more specific! I really cannot comprehend half of what you say because of it all being so vague....
:)
And meaning know offense but this:
DeleteI hope your freewill and open mindedness does allow you to debate with people who are not credulous.
Really made me laugh!
If I were 'closed minded' or let me use a more precise and stronger word, coward, I'd have just deleted your comments and acted like you never raised a question!
Hope you are not taking all of this personally!
But if you do raise questions, I won't shy away from answering....