Christian Icongraphy: The Cross or the Chair

This may be a slightly different view of the cross. By no means is the intent of this article to offend anyone, or to in anyway diminish the significance of what Christ did for us on the cross. However, this post does address the rise of the symbol of the cross as the foremost symbol of the Christian religion.

For sometime now I have looked at the crosses hanging in churches, from necks and atop steeples, and wondered how the cross came to the the ultimate symbol of Christianity. My strange little mind of mine begins to wonder what the Christian symbol would be if Christ was sentenced to death by beheading, the electric chair, or even lethal injection. Would our symbol as Christians then be the "holy axe," the "holy chair" or even the "holy syringe"? Wouldn't that seem weird? And a little morbid? I think so. I was in a church recently where people turned towards the cross when they sang and it all seamed a little weird to me.

I have really never found anywhere in the Bible were the cross has been elevated to a symbol of Christ. Therefore, we have to assume that the Christian symbol of the cross came about from a historic tradition, which is fine; historical traditions are often important things. There is nothing inherently wrong with symbols. However, when did it become so important? When did the symbol of the cross become the ultimate symbol of Christ? And why didn't another symbol come to be that celebrated his resurrection. I mean in all seriousness, many people died on a cross, but not to many rose from the dead and rolled back a stone to leave their grave.

I began a brief research into Christian iconography and was reminded that early Christians did not use the cross as a symbol of their faith, but instead used the ichthys (fish) and after that the Chi-Rho (the first two letters of the word "Christ" in greek). Once again, I am not saying that that Christians should not use the Cross as a symbol of their faith. I am saying that we need to think about why it is a symbol of our faith, outside of the obvious reasons.

All of this to say that I really think it is important to think about what you believe and why you believe it. To ask yourself why you believe something to be true. We create imagined realities in our mind. We create idealized versions of the truth. We remember Noah and all the animals, but have we actually thought about that story recently. I mean its a kid's story right? Or how about the parable of the prodigal son? That ones about rebellion right? Or is about the father, or how about even the oldest son? Or all three?

Just a thought.

Transitions: Beautiful and Difficult

Today I watched blue skies become grey and then once again return to blue. I watched the day become night through a beautiful display of light. As I watched the sunset it made me think about how the transition from day to night and night to day is the most beautiful part of the day. In photography it is the first and last few minutes of the day that reveals the best light. Then I thought about my life and my own transitions. And I remembered how hard those transitions are, but I also remembered how beautiful they are. We all have transtions in our lives.

I have so many friends that are in currently transitional times. They are thinking about moving to a new cities, what to do after graduating from school, looking for a new careers, etc... And as you know its just hard, really damn hard to figure it all out. But watching the sunset tonight made me think. It reminded me even though transitions are hard that their is also beauty in transitions that can't be found so easily in other times of our lives.

We all know that tough times are often the ones that shape us the most. They are the times that make us think about who we are and force us to become self-aware. Transitions not only force us out of our apathy, they force us to confront our emotions and fears. To think about our priorities - to face our deepest fears. And there is something beautiful about that.

The sunset also made me think about priorities in our lives. In my own experience what we all desire most is community. We may not always realize it, we may pick a job or even a city over true community. I may find a city that I love, but if I can't find an authentic community to live in there - the city becomes dead to me. A city is almost a material good, we often shop till we find one in which we want to live and then in the end are disappointed when it doesn't fulfill us. Not that there is anything wrong with moving or experiencing a new city, because there isn't. I probably think of moving to new cites and places more than most people. However, I have to remind myself that they only thing in this world that fulfills us is relationship. I search for it like a diamond in the rough. True community is hard to find, but it is easy to know when we have found it. And that is beautiful.

Transitions are hard, they suck, and we all get sick of them. Nothing is going to change that. But today I was encouraged to watch the sun fade away in an awe inspiring spectrum of colors. Because it reminded me those tough transitions are also beautiful. So hang in there my friends, hang in there.

I already posted this song on my other blog, you can find that post here. This song is just to perfect for this post. It's sad but hopeful; Beautiful yet tragic.

Ron Sexsmith - "There's Gold Them Hills"

Super Serious Post

For a few weeks now I have wanted to write a deep and insightful post on what I have been learning recently. However, today I sat down to write just such a post and instead I remembered this (Thanks Anna!). I guess that I am just going to have to write a super serious post later.

Happy Thanksgiving

So maybe I have a taste for dark humor. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Lars and the Real Girl: Community & Grace

For me, one of the obvious topics that came to mind when thinking about discussing "Lars and the Real Girl" was community. Throughout the film, I was continually surprised by the direction their community took to support and love Lars. Even in spite of a few initial reactions by some members of the community, they eventually all authentically love and support Lars despite of his problems. The awesome thing about the community found in "Lars and the Real Girl" is simply that they loved him and kept him close and did not just try to make him fit into their mold. They didn't try to change him because, in the end, that would accomplish nothing. They let his delusion play itself out, and they let it do what it needed to do.

I think about the community that surrounded Lars in the film and think about how we do church and community in our lives today. All I know is that in "Lars and the Real Girl" is a picture of what our community should be as Christians and a times it is just that - but, sadly often it is not. All too often the church community pushes away, for example, homosexuals from the Church or our Christian community because of their lifestyle. But I am telling you, there is a way to live with solid biblical convictions and still be in the world. Furthermore, we as Christians and a nation have all too often separated ourselves from those who have different political viewpoints than ourselves. I guess all I am really trying to say with all of this is that I have a desire to see diversity in our Christian communities that does not have lines drawn in the sand. I have a desire to see the walls that seem to protect us from the outside break down so that we can interact with the community around us, and I have a desire to actually interact and love with those who do not yet know the truth of the gospel.

This film made me want to try even harder to love those who are different than I am, those who have baggage that I don't have. Loving someone unconditionally is perhaps the most radical thing on earth. I can't really change anyone's behavior, no matter if I think it is wrong or right, but I can love them. Society, religion or otherwise, often tells us that this kinda love is crazy or that this is a "watered down gospel," but I don't believe it is. The gospel of Christ is the most radical thing I have ever heard in my life. People understand hell, people don't understand grace. It makes me really think about how, as Steve Brown puts it, scandalous the freedom found in grace is.

I am still trying to work this one out. But the following is audio is from a podcast entitled "The God Journey" hosted by some of the guys that were involved in writing "The Shack" - and while I cannot claim to agree with everything they say, the following audio brings up so many great points for conversation.

The God Journey Podcast - Pathway to Real Freedom

Agree or disagree, either way it is an interesting conversation. And honestly I am still sorting through this one myself as well.

Lars and the Real Girl: An Introduction

I just watched "Lars and the Real Girl" for the second time last night and it has really inspired me to write about a few topics that can be seen in the film - community and grace. It is taking me a little while to wrap my head around what I would like to see regarding these topics, so I thought I would start by posting an introduction to what is going to be a series of posts. If you haven't seen the film yet, I would strongly encourage you to do so. It is one of the best films I have seen in years. For me it is up there with Juno. If you have seen it I would love to hear about your first impressions and reactions to the film.

I have embedded the trailer of the film for anyone that wants to get a brief idea of what the film is about. Hopefully more posts will soon follow in the next few days.

Lars and the Real Girl - Official Trailer

Let the games begin...

I was first inspired to blog by my good friends Justin and Erin. They have two of my favorite blogs out there (Check them out by clicking on their names). Like I said, inspired by their abundant creativity I begin a music blog a couple of months ago called, "Music Matters." Since then I have gotten the bug. I really enjoy listening to music and writing about it there. However, I began to desire a forum were I could talk about other subjects. Enter this little blog entitled Searching for Authenticity. It is here that I wish to take myself as much as anyone else, on a journey of authenticity. While I'm sure that I will not always achieve the authenticity I am searching for, I am certainly going to try. Here I wish to talk about anything and everything and be real about it - unashamedly.

If I had to pick on word to define my deepest desires for my relationships, community, faith, words, life, love, and coffee - it would be authenticity. I look around me today and I see a culture that largely lacks such a adjective. Yet, at the same time I see a culture that deeply desires it. You can see it everywhere like in post-modern architectural trends like new-urbanism. You can even see it in some of the movies and books that have recently become popular. But it's the saccharine version of what is real, its authenticity-light® - and it's just not real.

The great irony that we exist in is this - we all desire authenticity, but few of us are willing to risk what it actually takes to get there. But it doesn't have to be this way. I believe we can all discover the God-given authenticity that we desire; however, I also know that it will be a radical journey that is sure to have a few bumps along the way.