Let’s Cross Over…

“On that day, when evening had come, He told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side….” Mark 4:35 (HCSB)

It never ceases to amaze me how when someone (or something) dies, we who are aware of it instantly gain sobriety. The moment may be fleeting, but all of a sudden our intoxication with self, with being busy or just generally with the truly unimportant, subsides. Clarity emerges. The fragility of life and the unstoppable nature of time cause us to wake up. Wait? Where am I? Who am I? We ask.

Death is all around us these days. I mean, it was always there, but now it seems that it’s inescapable. It is televised; live-streamed even. And, no matter how we might try, once you reach a certain age and level of consciousness you come to know that life is fragile and time is thinner than a vapor. One consequence of us being so aware of death is that the overwhelming majority of us can no longer remain asleep, disengaged or unmotivated. We cannot act like our homes, our families, our communities, our whatever, are not susceptible to the same things that used to only plague other people and places. We are coming to find that, thankfully, we cannot stay where we are. It’s time to cross over.

The message of hope for today is that the God who is love has made a way for us to be better and to do better in this life. That way is Jesus. Jesus is more than a religion and cannot be limited by all the walls we seek to construct around Him. Being in Christ is a lifestyle; a way of relating to God and to others.  Christ is a reality who, when freely allowed into our heart, mind, soul and spirit will not permit us to stay the same. Jesus will accept us just as we are and then graciously beckon us to become what we may have never even imagined that we could be; to cross over.

So, let’s cross over; from fear to faith, from hate to love, from isolation to connection. Let’s cross over our hurts, our differences, our shame, our apathy, our arrogance, our indifference, our embarrassment, our entitlement, our mistakes. Let’s cross over from stagnation to growth, from chatter to communication, from death to life; from existing to living, from inflicting pain to sharing hope. Let’s forgive. Let’s be reconciled. Let’s try again. Let’s let go. We cannot do it alone; but there is help and a Helper who goes both with us and before us. Emmanuel. Crossing over is a community effort, and we must each decide to join the journey.  We can do it together.  Attraversiamo; let’s start today.

“Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together.” Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NCV)