the Geometry of the Cross

while ready Gary Jansen's book Exercising Your Soul this afternoon, i was compelled to blog. chapter 17's title is 'The Geometry of the Cross'. to be honest, i was never a fan of geometry. hated it. in 10th grade, i was doing o.k. in the subject. then my teacher went on maternity leave. our replacement didn't know math. she was the long term substitute. let's just say my grade dropped dramatically... and i've loathed geometry ever since.

so what does geometry and the cross have in common?

Jansen paints a picture of two lines intersecting. the geometry of these two lines intersect at a point, forming what resembles a cross. that intersecting point represents Jesus.

the horizontal line is me. the vertical line is God. man and God intersect at the point.

the God line includes all his creation: the beautiful and the ugly. birds chirping, mountain ranges, rivers wild, plazas and malls, families and strangers, shopping carts and SUV's. etc.

regardless - where we find God's creation, we find Christ. but are we even aware? or are we waiting... stubbornly thinking we can only connect with God for one hour on a sunday morning in a self-proclaimed 'sanctuary?'

i love how Jensen concludes this brief chapter.
he explains how we can be on the horizontal line and yet, since we are part of God's creation, are also on the vertical 'God' line.

"When we include you not only on the line that moves from left to right, but also bottom to top, you will notice that when you encounter yourself -- whether it be the face looking back at you in the mirror or the reflection of your soul against God's creation -- you will find Christ."

We often miss Christ... miss out on God. how much of that is because we are truly missing out on ourselves? how might one's lack of self-awareness correlate to one's lack of God-awareness?



so where did you meet God on your road to life today? on the slow morning jog. watching the joy of youth at the JV football game. the gentle, cool breeze. cleaning the garage. spending the afternoon in the great outdoors.

meditate on the times you were aware that your life intersected with God today. in the noises of life... airplanes overhead; laughter of children playing at the park; the breeze through the trees; the wind chime on the front porch...


the simple things bring us to that point of intersection... through geometry, even... to the point of Christ. don't miss out. don't miss Him.