Never having worn a cross as a statement of faith, I am often drawn to notice those who do wear a cross, and also their actions. I believe the responsibility of declaring yourself a Christian, has a high level of responsibility.
In todays mass marketing of fashion, the cross as a fashion accessory has produced some of the most glamorous and glitzy of crosses, from the fake jewelled cheap versions to the expensive diamond encrusted ones, worn arrogantly by many fashion gurus and celebrities.
Coupled with fashion accessories, we also have popular tee shirts depicting the crucifixion and also tattoos, which have been around much longer. The cross in the fashion industry has been trivialized over the years, together with the many churches who have removed the cross, in favour of the crown signifying victory over evil.
Unfortunately, the simple gold and silver crosses have also lost their power by the many who wear them unaware of the true meaning, sacrifice and significance the cross holds. It is also unfortunate that in the multi-cultural environment now created in the workplace, many people remove their cross in order not to offend another.
A well known female news-reader in the UK has been asked to remove her cross, and she has duly done so.
The cross is indeed offensive to those who do not believe. The fashionable jewelled accessory however, is much more acceptable and bearable, especially when paraded in a vulgar way. The fashion accessorized cross has become a new religion in a culture of drugs, sex, music and promiscuity, and in particular rap.
In the church near where I live, many adults and children will make the long walk up a hill through the churchyard on Good Friday. At 3 o clock, a man, carrying a large wooden and battered cross will lead a congregation up a long and winding path. In the past I have stood on top of that hill in a hushed silence, as the world below has carried on in its drama. It is a significant and very moving re-enactment to many.
It was sometimes in that silence, before the children would run down the hill, that a truer and more meaning message was conveyed.
The significance of the cross and the carrying of it, I believe, however, is lost on most of us. The path up hill, the pitfalls, the traps and the pain from splintered wood and piercing steel is not really for mere onlookers, no matter the joyous occasion celebrated in the resurection.
I think that trip up the hill is also the same way we have to go. It is not an easy journey. Trivializing the cross in fashion jewellery is for the faint hearted. Its statement whether fashionable or well intended does nothing for its true message. It has trivialized christianity, in a culture that definately needs to hear its true meaning. Sometimes, like the collar I see being worn by many pious preachers, crosses make me wonder if their bearer knows the impact its sign can have on another. Replacing the cross for a crown without the pain of repentance, is yet another con. Victory is only won through pain, and few of us are prepared to face the pain of our own faults.
The bearer and the holder of the real cross has a powerful force to which they are connected. Today, I ask myself, amidst the celebration of Spring and new life, will my cross be the glitzy fashionable imitiation one to be admired by the world, or will I be prepared to stay in that silence, the silence I glimpsed all those years ago, when the truer message tried to convey itself to me.
Being still in an imitation world is the cross no-one wants to wear.
