RE:question

I am so often *cross* about Christianity lately, Ghandi once said I love your Christ but I am not so ccnvinoed about your Christians' or something in that vein. I'm no Ghandi but I am a committed Christian, for better or worse, culturally and spiritually. In fact I discovered something personally recently- it's not even a choice I have. Having been raised this way, somewhat imperfectly, the values are ingrained.Selfishness, greed, cruelty anathema to Christians once we are exposed to the cross, symbol of Jesus' self-sacrifice and trying to change the world. None of us are the same after. We may try to proceed business-like but life is totally changed.And then we get to see people like you Bosco, who have been through the refiner's fire: knowing God chooses the best of people to demonstrate this. And yet wishing you so much less pain than you have had to bear.Isn't that what compassion is? I am sorry' for another's suffering?That's what the symbol of the crucifix means to me: it's a complete reminder of how many people sacrifice their own human condition, following Christ, and still manage to move forward with humanity.The cross takes us back to all that is important, even though as other people point out here it is so often used as a manipulative symbol down the ages for the exact opposite to Jesus' wishes, materialism and cruelty.When I see a cross or other Christian symbol today I think warning', because it has to be filtered, goodness or badness.But it is goodness I choose to search out- because it is there, despite everything.That's what seeing a cross means to me. *Lovely poem Gillian.