Others

For many people, this Cross may mean, represent, or symbolize various things. Some may see hope, peace, prosperity, and salvation. Others may see anger, disappointment, or bewilderment. The range of emotions and feelings may be wide.

The thought that ponders my mind when I see that Cross is that it represents a person who thought of others before himself.

As a culture and society, the constant focus in our lives is ourselves. What can I gain? How do I look? What does everyone else think of me? Where I am going? When will something happen for me? Why is this happening to me? These are questions that consume our minds daily.

Granted, it is impossible to go through life and not think about yourself some. But the thing for me is that, often, when I think about myself, I compare myself with others who are better than me. It is this competitive attitude combined with a certain feeling of inferiority. The biggest challenge for me, and most people from the U.S., is to realize how blessed we are.

Why is it that I stress about which article of clothing I am going to wear when many in the world would be overjoyed with a set of clothing? The education that I stress about and often complain about is what many in the world, young and old, long for. I always say that I am “starving.” I do not even know what starving is. How many people in the world would beg for the leftovers of what we have eaten?

With our hearts, can we please stop looking at ourselves and see the world. Let us who have so much help those who do not have much at all. This may be in the physical sense of food, clothing, and shelter. But this can also be in the spiritual sense too. Why do we often see people as what one is wearing or what another is driving? What about their eternal spiritual souls?

This all comes back to the fact that the source and meaning of the Cross. Jesus Christ gave up his LIFE for people like you and me who deserve nothing remotely close to that kind of love. Let us stop thinking about ourselves and start seeing the needs and pains of those around us.