Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. (Romans 12.3-5)
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The last two Easter Sunday's have been unique experiences in my own memory. In 2021, with the Covid pandemic still raging, the church where I serve had an outdoor experience, under a tent, that was tremendous. There had been a host of anticipation and the day was fantastic.
This year we were hoping for a "more normal Easter experience." While we made some of the same plans as previous years, trumpets and a brass band, a big choir number, a compelling video, there were new twists. One of those was a hospitality tent, because where we normally have hospitality, was another twist, an 'art gallery.'
The gallery was the idea of our creative producer. The goal was to have ten artists take a bare bones 4 foot tall cross, work with it, and bring it back for Easter morning. The creativity and reflection of the crosses was spectacular.
Twelve crosses arrayed in the fellowship center
A couple of my favorites included these two:
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| Painted on the anniversary of the death of a beloved husband |
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| The cross transformed into a tree of life |
Two crosses had been a part of corporate worship. The cross that greeted people as they walked into the building had been used in previous Stations of the Cross experiences. It was transformed into an array of color.
The second cross was used in this year's Stations of the Cross experience.
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| The red and white string was wrapped around the nails by people as they went through the stations |
One of my contributions to the gallery was to create the crosses that would be transformed.
I seldom think of myself as 'an artist,' but when asked if I could do this, I thought sure, "I will create the canvas upon which others paint."
As the stories of each finished piece began to be told I began to realize, the people involved in this project were more numerous than I had originally imagined. There was the person who planted the tree, the person who harvested it, the truckers, the sawmill workers, the person at Menards who unloaded the truck, myself, the artists, the person with the idea, and ultimately the Lord - who made the trees grow.
The project was a living reminder of the interdependence we have. We do not create ex nihilio (out of nothing), or apart from our interaction and the influence of others. Instead, "we are many parts of one body and we all belong to each other." It was good to celebrate the beginning of Resurrection with so many, who know in their own stories the victory of God, brining new life amidst the pain, agony, and death that touches all of us.
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Eventually, I did create a cross. It was made out of wood from an axe throwing establishment and decorated with beer bottle caps. I wanted to capture the effect of the earthquake on the cross that Matthew (28.2) describes.The earthquake must have been destroyed the cross; I see it as the act of life coming out of death. The blue at the base reflects the fresh flowers of life that spring up from the life-blood of Christ Jesus.
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