Photo Illusion-Meditation on the Cross

This past weekend, I took myself on retreat. Long story short, they had beautiful grounds. I took tons of pictures, you can check out some of them here! The strange thing is there were certain images I saw in the nature surrounding me that was not just simply beautiful. There was something more than just beauty.

This picture is one of them. Honestly, if you think you see a mess, you are right. But look deeper. Think deeper. There was a song we used to sing when I was in the children's choir way back when. I couldn't find it online but when I saw this tree, one line popped into my head, "three empty crosses, stood on a hill...".

If you have studied crucifixion at all, from what I remember, the vertical post was already at the place of crucifixion and the condemned person had to carry the horizontal piece on their shoulders, not like most images we see of Christ carrying the entire cross. Then what was left was the posts. I imagine they were re-used and not left to become overgrown...but I couldn't help ponder this. Is this image similar to what became of the area where Christ was crucified between the other two men? Simple wooden posts, overgrown, forgotten. The great meaning not only the middle post had, for the obvious reasons that it held our God, suffering for our sins, but also the one man who died assured of Heaven due to his faith in Christ at the end. The third post reminding us of the cost of pride and sin. Years later, overgrown, did people pass by that place and wonder what once had been? Not realizing what sacred ground they walked across? Ground that once was soaked with the blood of Jesus? The very blood I wait in line to receive at Mass?

This led to the thought of how many times we pass by Jesus on the crucifixes in our own Churches, in our homes, in schools (Religious ones of course), and forget the blood shed for our sins. We do not have to travel to the hill of Calvary to walk that sacred ground where our Lord's blood was shed. We see that Sacrifice every time we go to Mass. How often do we not even notice it then? How often do we let our distractions win out instead of giving into the truest desires of our hearts to be drawn closer to Him? How many opportunities are we given to be thankful for our salvation? How many times do we walk by?

Let us take a moment, in whatever we do in a day, and thank Him for the cross!