A Cross of Many Colors

Years ago a good friend asked me why I wore a symbol of execution around my neck. It caught me up short and led me to a place of wonder. Good question, I thought to myself. With time and a bit of wisdom, I reflected on the Good News of the empty cross, the Great Love that it symbolizes, and the power of Resurrection which it suggests. And so I wear empty crosses of all sorts today.

This morning in her reflection, Dean Kate used for her art a "cross of many colors" and suggested that the colors on the cross symbolized the great joy and hope of the Resurrection. The cross below has hung on my wall for many years, a gift from someone I love who is not in my life anymore. Just as it symbolizes the great joy of the Resurrection of Jesus, perhaps I can look at it now in a different way: as a symbol of the great joy of the resurrection of our relationship one day in life eternal. Just as Joseph's coat of many colors represented his father's love for him, so this cross of many colors will now symbolize Our Father's love for us and the "sure and present hope of Resurrection."