Holy Brit

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

If we live in an area of the world where the word "adore" tends to replace "cute" when we are talking about puppies and small children, and replaces "pretty" when talking about earrings we might find ourselves struggling to adore the cross of Christ. It might seem that we are saying we like it, it might seem that we are praising some surface value, an appearance. But adore is more than that.

Literally it is from a root that means "speak towards" or "pray towards". Praying in the direction of would make more sense that "liking" but there is even more to this little word - it also contains an idea of loving and loving with all that we are, unconditionally. The watered down common culture version of the word has a place but it is a mere shadow of the adoration which is called for in Passiontide.

The word passion, of course, is from the root word suffering - not a word revolving around pleasure. But again, it is a word which is about reaching far beyond the surface of the everyday even in its non-religious settings.

So adoring the cross of Christ is not a polite overstatement of preference, it is a turning and a handing over.

These words are used in the devotion "Stations of the Cross." These fourteen (usually) meditations on the last walk and crucifixion of Christ can give a great insight into that day. We can use them to adore, to turn our complete attention over for a few moments, to walk with Jesus those final steps and stand at the foot of the cross.

The sort of love which the cross both offers and provokes is a very different sort of love that we might expect. Faced with God at God's most vulnerable, realizing that Jesus has allowed this and entering into that place of devastation brings us to a center - a reality which both humbles and empowers us. In that moment we are both bound in and set free.

I adore you Jesus.....becomes not a piece of Church banter but an experience of a dusty hillside, the taste of tears, a vision of our dear Lord and a way forward.