{"id":49,"date":"2009-12-31T15:47:27","date_gmt":"2009-12-31T15:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jazztheologian\/2009\/12\/strange-fruit-the-cross-as-a-way-of-life-due-out-2010.html"},"modified":"2009-12-31T15:47:27","modified_gmt":"2009-12-31T15:47:27","slug":"strange-fruit-the-cross-as-a-way-of-life-due-out-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/2009\/12\/strange-fruit-the-cross-as-a-way-of-life-due-out-2010.html","title":{"rendered":"Strange Fruit: The Cross as a Way of Life (Due out 2010)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Here's another installment from my current writing project)<\/span><\/p>\n

Frances Xavier Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters
\nof the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the simple goal of spreading devotion to the
\nheart of Christ through acts of mercy. 
\n<\/span>During her time on earth she established \u201csixty-seven hospitals,
\norphanages and schools\u2014one for each year of her life.\u201d[1]<\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>In the foothills just west of Denver is
\nthe Mother Cabrini Shrine.  <\/span>For
\nalmost two decades, I have visited this place multiple times a year because it
\nreminds me that the cross is a way of
\nlife.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

            <\/span>You
\nsee, Mother Cabrini would often walk with her adopted orphan children to the
\nhighest point of the mountain. In 1954, a stairway of prayer was constructed
\nalong this well-worn path.  <\/span>The three
\nhundred seventy-three steps to the top lead you to a twenty-two-foot tall
\nstatue of Jesus standing upon an eleven-foot pedestal facing east.  <\/span>His right hand extends palm up toward
\nthe millions of people who reside below in the Mile High City\u2019s metro area.  <\/span>With his left hand, he pulls his robe
\naside revealing his heart encircled, by a crown of thorns, to the world.  <\/span>I\u2019ve always found this image
\nintriguing.  <\/span>We talk so much about
\ninviting Jesus into our<\/em> hearts but
\nwhat if the invitation is to enter his<\/em>?  <\/span>Is the goal to get Jesus into our
\nlife?  <\/span>After all, he already took
\nthe initiative to incarnate himself, but it is \u201cin him<\/em> all things hold together.\u201d[2]<\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>Even in his cross.<\/span><\/p>\n

The climb up to the statue takes
\nyou past fourteen crosses that mark the Way of the Cross (also known as The
\nStations of the Cross).  <\/span>Attached
\nto each wooden cross is a stone mosaic depicting an episode in Christ\u2019s Passion.  <\/span>Benches are placed in front of each
\nstation so you can sit and consider the road of suffering that our Savior
\nfollowed.  <\/span>Among the scenes depicted
\nare Christ\u2019s condemnation by Herod; Jesus\u2019 taking up of his cross; his struggle
\nto carry the cross; his humiliation in being stripped bare; and his body nailed
\nupon the tree.<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>On
\none of my first dates with my then future-wife I took her to this sacred
\nplace.  <\/span>At dusk we climbed
\nhand-in-hand along the way of the cross. 
\n<\/span>At the top we watched the sun set behind the Continental Divide to the
\nwest and we prayed as we looked out over our city lights with the statue of
\nChrist watching over us.  <\/span>Though
\nour relationship was young our hearts knew that this was right and that God was
\ncalling us to walk the way of the cross together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, the chill of the
\nevening chased us from the overlook, sending us back down the steps to the
\nwarmth of the car.  <\/span>When we reached
\nthe exit of the shrine parking lot; however, we were stunned to find the gate
\nclosed.  <\/span>We were locked in!  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There was a light on in the
\nnearby stone house so we drove to it and knocked.  <\/span>One of the Sister\u2019s opened the door and sternly informed us
\nthat the mountain closes at sundown. 
\n<\/span>She then put on her boots with her habit, hopped in a near by 4 x 4
\ntruck and unlocked the gate. 
\n<\/span>Today, Barbara and I smile every time we drive through the gate in our
\nfifteen-passenger van filled with our six children and their friends.   <\/span>As we stand in a circle, holding
\nhands and praying the Lord\u2019s Prayer before we climb to the top with our
\nchildren, we remember how it all began.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/span><\/span><\/a> http:\/\/www.mothercabrinishrine.org\/<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

[2]<\/span><\/span><\/a> Col. 1.17
\n(italics added)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Here's another installment from my current writing project) Frances Xavier Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the simple goal of spreading devotion to the heart of Christ through acts of mercy.  During her time on earth she established \u201csixty-seven hospitals, orphanages and schools\u2014one for each year of her life.\u201d[1] …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc"],"yoast_head":"\nStrange Fruit: The Cross as a Way of Life (Due out 2010) - The Jazz Theologian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/2009\/12\/strange-fruit-the-cross-as-a-way-of-life-due-out-2010.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Strange Fruit: The Cross as a Way of Life (Due out 2010) - 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Author of Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith (Zondervan) and the upcoming, Strange Fruit: The Cross as a Way of Life (2011). Founder of Project 127, a ministry dedicated to seeing the day when there are no children waiting for homes in Colorado's foster care system. Robert deeply desires to see the body of Christ mobilized to serve the least of these. The poor, the down and out, the disenfranchised and disabled, those deemed unimportant and the unborn. He believes that God loves all people yet he has a special heart for the poor and the poor in spirit, the miserable and the marginalized. A Contributing Editor for Leadership Journal and Urbanfaith.com. He acquired a B.A. in Bibilcal Studies from Colorado Christian University and a Master of Arts in World Christianity (Missiology) from Denver Seminary. Robert is married to the love of his life, Barbara, and they have six energetic children (3 boys & 3 girls--one bio, five adopted--two from Ethiopia). Friend of God...Passionate about the Body of Christ...Lover of this thing called jazz! Please visit Jazztheologian.com for contact info., speaking schedule, videos, Facebook and Twitter.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/author\/rgelinas"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}