The Sacrifice of Love

What is the meaning of the cross?
Agony, embraced.
Murder, embraced.
Death, embraced.

The crimes of our enemy, of our friend, of our brother…
Of our father, mother, sister, uncle, teacher, preacher…
All of them, embraced by this man.
All of them, taken on by this courageous man.

Some crimes can’t be repaired:
Some boundaries must never be crossed.
But even the unthinkable can be overcome.
Even the most tarnished silver can be restored back again, good as new.

Beating, to the point of near death,
Crucifixion, in agony.
His spirit broken.
Death.

Jesus poured out his life in obedience to God,
Even to the point of death on a cross.
He did it to save us!
He did it to undo the crimes.

Honesty is to look at this man;
Courage is to come to him naked in heart, and find ourselves tarnished in his pure reflection.
But Light in its very nature must undo Darkness.
God, in his very nature, must change us into becoming more like him.

What is the meaning of the cross?
Agony, embraced.
Murder, embraced.
Death, embraced.

Love has swallowed up our corruption, into the grave.
Love has come back to life, standing over the grave:
Standing over our graves, to call us back to life alongside him.

We can open our hearts, to the man willing to die.
We can allow ourselves to be changed.
Trust can overcome fear.
Light can overcome the Darkness.

Fatherhood

 What’s in a good father?

Safety. Strength. Right boundaries.
Presence.
Does the world need good fathers?
You bet we do!
I should know: I’m a half orphan.
I lost my Dad at ten.
In the absence of a good father, what should a child do?
Can a mother be enough?
A good mother is important, a good mother is strong: I know this too, I am also a mother.
But a woman can never be a man.
Femininity’s had a hard time, over the ages:
She has come under many threats.
There is another kind of threat, equally strong: to have to be all things.
Yet diversity is greater strength.
Masculinity can free femininity to come out of the closet, and let her hair down.
Femininity can free masculinity into a bolder expression.
We, humanity, are male and female,
And so we find our greatest expression together: male and female.
Whether it’s father, mother, brother, sister, colleagues, partners, friends: masculinity and femininity together rock!
We were made for each other.
What’s in a good father?
Safety. Strength. Right boundaries.
Presence.
Does the world need good fathers?
You bet we do.