My Catholic Journal-April 2011

Ok.....I guess I should explain my little Easter Project. I Think It was last fall at some point I found myself out in my garage staring at a bunch and I do mean a bunch of scrap lumber that kind of came with the house. I was wondering how I was going to get rid of this stuff as I would like to have more room in my garage. At some point It occurred to me that I could make a cross with some of the wood. This would be a way that could fulfill the "action" part of my cursillo commitment and would be a nice addition to my outside landscaping. (It does need some help) Now for the catch! A carpenter I am not! Sorry to all my amish relatives but I can't even drive a nail. I can however bake a mean dessert though! I did decide to give this a try. I decided to notch out the cross so it would look a little more professional. I looked for a chisel but could not find one. I found a screwdriver. I began to chisel out a very crude notch to hold the arm of the cross. The thought came to me that Christ must have had much worse tools. (However I'm sure his work looked much better.) Oh well, I persevered finding whatever I could see. I found some things I did not even know I had....like some trim pieces to apply. Before I knew it I had a cross. I began to have serious doubts as to whether it would look acceptable enough to display. Remember I am no carpenter! I decided to put it up. My cross lasted a couple of hours until it was lying face down in the yard. Well.......I picked it up and put it back in my garage almost forgetting about it. I happened to be at Lowe's one day and passed some plumbing pieces that I thought might work as a mount. I attempted one last try and the cross that was left was the one that are in the pictures at the end of this blog. I wake every morning and meditate on my Easter display. I have come to the conclusion that as Christ was carrying his cross one thing that he could not have done was look back. If he looked back he surely would have perseverated on how heavy the cross was or how much pain he felt or possibly even the cruel crowd that looked on. Instead he moved....how did he move? Forward...in spite of all the reasons to look back he looked ahead. I think my cross just might be acceptable. (Though I am still no carpenter.!) Happy Easter