Cross Variety

Can you see the altar in this image? It's the one from SPLAT worship this morning. I don't know how many crosses are on the altar, but there are many of them -- different sizes, different styles.

I like this image, and to me it is symbolic of many aspects of this experience.

• We all come to this one place with different life experiences -- different goals -- different backgrounds -- and different crosses to bear. And yet we all place them on the same altar.
• Those who are attending all have different viewpoints of faith -- conservative, liberal, and everything in between. And yet we are all United Methodists
• Worship isn't about what is done in front of us; it is about what is accomplished within us. And all bring different expectations, different worship traditions and different burdens to worship, but we all bring them to the same God.
• Jesus died on a cross for all of us, but it is when we finally realize that he died for each of us that we start to let his death and resurrection transform us. We are unique, and yet his salvation and grace is the same for all.
• We are all made in the image of God -- none of us more like him that another. What glorious and majestic depth he must have, since all of us are so different, and yet we are all made in his image.

Here's to glorious variety.