Monday, April 20, 2009

Invoking the cross

Yesterday afternoon, my husband was on the phone with his mom when the soup was ready, and we sat down to eat while he was still talking. We normally pray before we eat, but since he was on the phone, we simply made eye contact & I crossed myself. The nice thing about being married for almost twenty years is that some communication becomes easier.

However, when Johnny and I were sharing our silent prayer moment, I noticed that I crossed myself with my left hand. I have asked my best friend, who is Catholic, to help me know how to cross myself properly, because I do not want to disrespect what is predominantly a Catholic tradition. Hollywood does enough damage in that area, and I do not want to make a sacred gesture common. She can comment on this blog to correct me, if necessary, but I think you are supposed to cross yourself with your dominant hand, and maybe it's supposed to be your right. As soon as I crossed myself with my left hand, I noticed a tendency: don't we often add Jesus on to whatever we're doing? Can't be bothered to stop our right hand from its work, so we offer a swift prayer with the left and keep going. I noticed, in that quick moment at lunch, that I am accustomed to making the sign of the cross with my left hand. I must do it more casually than I thought. I must make the sign more often when I can't be quite bothered to stop what I'm doing.

I am not Catholic, but I love the symbolism of crossing myself. I love touching my mind, my heart, and my shoulders (my strength) with the simple sign of the cross. It is such a kinetic prayer, and there is never a time I do it without thinking of how much I need the cross to cover me, no matter what moment I am in. I love sign language in the same way, the silent voice that takes my body and makes it speak. There is something holy and meditative about speaking without words. In the sign of the cross, I ask Jesus to cover me, to extend His mercy to me. I remind myself that His blood is sufficient for my weakness, my sin, and my fears. I praise Him for the sacrifice He made for me. I acknowledge His humility and meekness, and cry out for the same in my life.

When my husband is alone, he still prays before eating. He bows his head and is silent for a few moments. When I am alone, if I do pray, I usually pray while munching my first few bites. After all, my Jesus, who wears blue jeans, is perfectly comfortable sitting with me through the whole meal, so there's really no need to get all formal.

God made us to be relational, and part of that relational equation involves showing proper respect. He is holy; He is the Creator of all heaven and earth. As much as I know I am adored by Him, I think I would do well to STOP, and invoke His cross with a still heart. He will still sit and eat with me; He doesn't NEED me to give Him honor. But in my pausing and my stillness, maybe I am magnifying His greatness to all the unseen world that might be watching my dining room table.

4 comments:

bonnie said...

Lovely. I have no idea what the correct answer is to the hand question, but you definitely got the purpose right. Bless you.

Old Woman Marine said...

Love this Angie....tender and powerful too. I am Judith you know, named after the book from the Catholic Bible. Thanks for sharing.

Ginny's gems said...

great story. I have had the desire to do that myself but never did it because I'm not Catholic. Thanks for giving me new insight.

Terri said...

There is not really a Right way to cross yourself. It is a physical expression of a dedication to Christ and a desire to be more fully His. There are several beautiful traditional prayers to meditate about during the signing.

R. Catholics in Italy and America typically use R hand in the order head-heart-L shoulder- right shoulder.

Eastern Orthodox catholics do it R hand, but R shoulder first (Mirror to the Priest's blessing of the congregation).

The Greeks and Lebanese are less concerned about which hand, but the hand you use should :hold thumb, pointer and middle fingers together representing the Trinity and the straighter pinky and ring fingers are to represent the 2 natures of Jesus-- fully man and fully God.