Meaning of why I cross myself
Much like when people make the sign of the cross when they enter worship or receive communion, I have a ritual. While most people do not care about my ritual, I have been asked by several people what it means.
The point of this post is not to share my ritual but to use my ritual as an invitation to others to share their rituals.
After a prayer, I will take my left thumb and use my nail to make a small cross on my forehead. Then I will kiss my left hand ring finger. Finally I will take my left hand thumb and left hand middle finger and place them on my eyebrows and push my fingers toward the outside edge of my eyebrows. My fingers follow the outside of my face and meet again at my chin.
This ritual as grown for me over time, but this is why I do what I do.
I cross my forehead as a reminder to me that it is my hope that the first thing that people see in me is Christ.
I kiss my ring finger in order to remind me of all the love and support from people who have brought me thus far.
I 'swipe' my eyes in as a prayer that God might remove the scales from my eyes and I can see the world as Christ sees the world.
That is it.
What rituals do you do? Why do you do them?
The point of this post is not to share my ritual but to use my ritual as an invitation to others to share their rituals.
After a prayer, I will take my left thumb and use my nail to make a small cross on my forehead. Then I will kiss my left hand ring finger. Finally I will take my left hand thumb and left hand middle finger and place them on my eyebrows and push my fingers toward the outside edge of my eyebrows. My fingers follow the outside of my face and meet again at my chin.
This ritual as grown for me over time, but this is why I do what I do.
I cross my forehead as a reminder to me that it is my hope that the first thing that people see in me is Christ.
I kiss my ring finger in order to remind me of all the love and support from people who have brought me thus far.
I 'swipe' my eyes in as a prayer that God might remove the scales from my eyes and I can see the world as Christ sees the world.
That is it.
What rituals do you do? Why do you do them?
Hello my name is Jason and I am addicted...
I believe that it would be a good thing for all Christians to admit to the world what Church really is.
We are, in part, a support group or people addicted to violence.
There are a number of responses to a situation, but for most people, a real response is a violent response. We are caught up in scapegoating and sacrificing people for the "betterment of the whole" or even for the sake of "justice". But really, it is all a facade.
Humanity is addicted to violence. All of us.
Some of us are not great at controlling our addition. Some of us are.
It has been shared in his autobiography that Gandhi beat his young wife. Even the one whom we might most associate with non-violence, was addicted to violence. He found ways to control his addiction, ans so must we.
This is why I attend church. I identify that I have an addition to violence and am seeking ways to deal with and address my addition.
I do not beat my wife or child, but I do scapegoat people when I am caught up in the mob. I am rather violent toward earth's resources by just the way I live my life.
It is seen as having a weakness if you need a support group or an accountability group here in the West. It goes against the self-made person myth, but I do not care. We all need help with this addiction.
Hello. My name is Jason and I am addicted to violence.
We are, in part, a support group or people addicted to violence.
There are a number of responses to a situation, but for most people, a real response is a violent response. We are caught up in scapegoating and sacrificing people for the "betterment of the whole" or even for the sake of "justice". But really, it is all a facade.
Some of us are not great at controlling our addition. Some of us are.
It has been shared in his autobiography that Gandhi beat his young wife. Even the one whom we might most associate with non-violence, was addicted to violence. He found ways to control his addiction, ans so must we.
This is why I attend church. I identify that I have an addition to violence and am seeking ways to deal with and address my addition.
I do not beat my wife or child, but I do scapegoat people when I am caught up in the mob. I am rather violent toward earth's resources by just the way I live my life.
It is seen as having a weakness if you need a support group or an accountability group here in the West. It goes against the self-made person myth, but I do not care. We all need help with this addiction.
Hello. My name is Jason and I am addicted to violence.
Why is Bill Maher doing better at talking about Christians than Christians?
In case you have not seen this little bit from Real Time with Bill Maher, be warned that it is a bit raunchy and the part that related to this post begins around 2:30. (Thank you to Adam and Neil for sharing this with me.)
I want to know why is it that Maher, who is not a professed Christian, doing the work of the Christian minister?
Maher, despite the language and crassness, gets the non-violence of Jesus in a way that many Christians do not.
How is this possible? How has the church failed the followers of Christ so much that we have not been able to stand up as one voice and say, NO! to violence?
How is it possible that the Church is debating about issues but missing the point of violence?
Is this what Christians are known for? Violence?
Do we believe in love up to a point? That is to say do we think that we start with love and if that does not work then do we use violence because it "works" for some things?
If we believe that, in the end violence is a viable option, then do we really believe that Love has the final say?
I have heard Christians say, "Oh I have hope there will be peace, but I know that there will always be war."
Really? Always?
Have we read the Bible?
Did we miss the part in which we proclaim that in the end Peace and Grace have the final word?
Did we miss Easter?
My believe in peace and the message of Jesus informs me that it is not a matter of "if" humans will stop fighting but "when" will we stop?
We can stop right now. Or we can stop in the future. But the Bible I read and the Jesus I follow teach of a trust that in the end, ultimately, war and violence will end.
We can have that end come right now if we want.
Or we can keep on fighting.
Thank goodness that Maher gets the Christian message. I am not sure he believes it, but he at least gets it. In his articulation of the non-violence of Christ he has shown me that we in the Church may have missed a big part of sharing the message of Jesus to the world.
Thank you Bill Maher for using your platform for the message of Christ.
I want to know why is it that Maher, who is not a professed Christian, doing the work of the Christian minister?
Maher, despite the language and crassness, gets the non-violence of Jesus in a way that many Christians do not.
How is this possible? How has the church failed the followers of Christ so much that we have not been able to stand up as one voice and say, NO! to violence?
How is it possible that the Church is debating about issues but missing the point of violence?
Is this what Christians are known for? Violence?
Do we believe in love up to a point? That is to say do we think that we start with love and if that does not work then do we use violence because it "works" for some things?
If we believe that, in the end violence is a viable option, then do we really believe that Love has the final say?
I have heard Christians say, "Oh I have hope there will be peace, but I know that there will always be war."
Really? Always?
Have we read the Bible?
Did we miss the part in which we proclaim that in the end Peace and Grace have the final word?
Did we miss Easter?
My believe in peace and the message of Jesus informs me that it is not a matter of "if" humans will stop fighting but "when" will we stop?
We can stop right now. Or we can stop in the future. But the Bible I read and the Jesus I follow teach of a trust that in the end, ultimately, war and violence will end.
We can have that end come right now if we want.
Or we can keep on fighting.
Thank goodness that Maher gets the Christian message. I am not sure he believes it, but he at least gets it. In his articulation of the non-violence of Christ he has shown me that we in the Church may have missed a big part of sharing the message of Jesus to the world.
Thank you Bill Maher for using your platform for the message of Christ.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.