In our gospel today we hear Jesus call us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him, setting our minds on divine things, on the self-giving love of God. Jesus is our model of self-giving love, letting go of all self-centeredness to show us the way of the cruciform life. While we’re not likely to face the horrors of a physical crucifixion today, his cross points us in the right direction for a life of self-giving love.

The cross is made of two beams, one vertical, one horizontal. The vertical beam represents our relationship with the Divine. It is firmly planted in the here and now, in the Ground of our being, the Source and Essence of all. It stretches upward to the One in whom we live and move and have our being, the One who enfolds all creation, the entire cosmos, and yet is the One who is nearer than our very breath. As we focus on that beam, we may experience God’s self-giving love pouring into us in a mighty and life-giving way. The only response we can possibly make to such an abundant love is to surrender ourselves to the Holy One as completely as Jesus did in Gethsemane, not my will but thine be done.

The horizontal beam represents our relationship with others, near and far. When Jesus stretched out his arms on the hard wood of the cross, he was showing us the inclusive way of self-giving love—none excluded—not one—no matter what. That’s a hard act for us to follow, seemingly impossible for most of us to live into. Indeed, none of us can do it on our own. As we look to the center of our cross, where the two beams intersect, however, we find there God’s love at work in us transforming us into generous, compassionate self-giving, enabling us to let go of our egoic mind, our self-centeredness, for the good of others.