All sorts of things have been done to us Christians: we’ve been insulted we’ve been poked, we’ve been pushed around, and we’ve been slapped: our induration and indifference boundaries have been tested. And we are in a deep sleep, deeper than the bear’s hibernation; we’ve been dormant to the point of inexistence
I was walking trough the town in which I am crumbling away what’s left of my life. I was trying to add a few grams of agility, and loose, if possible, a few extra bits that I had piled up. So I set up a faster pace for myself. Suddenly, I stopped as if I were rooted. The foot that I was supposed to set onto the plastic, street drain, I left hanging in the air, so I entrenched myself dandling. The plastic, street mat – I don’t know what to call it – that connects and bridges the sidewalk to the street was covered in crosses; one next to the other. And not those protestant crosses, distorted and crooked, but real nice crosses; so there’s no doubt
Demon, the co-author of that design, knows what he wanted, and what he wanted he successfully accomplished: people step calmly and recklessly onto Christ’s cross, a symbol of us, so called Christians, they step on that Holy sign, but so do the animals. People do it senselessly and animals unintentionally. Of course some dog will stop to mark his territory too
While walking down that street, I knew I passed a few of those mats – drains. This one, where I stopped, was new, recently installed. It crossed my mind that I have stepped on many darker, older ones, but also some newer ones of those drains. I went back to the apartment and repeated the same walk only this time I was more attentively watching where I was walking and what I was stepping. True, the street inclined towards the sea, it rains very often, in the springtime there are monsoon rains, therefore, those drains are really needed so that the flooding waters roll over them and do not erode the pavement. What I thought was true; those drains existed since forever; both people and animals had been stepping on them, the dogs had been marking them, but there hadn’t been crosses. The crosses are since recently. The drains, even before, served their purpose, but the crosses have been added for some other reasons. The devil, tireless in his evil doing, he flicks us and then he snickers. He is telling us: “I can do whatever I want to you, so called Christians; you are numb. I am running out of ideas how to hut you. I am starting to get bored.
Many times when I was encountering these sorts of audacities, I thought there are many other decorative symbols. David’s star for example is visually maybe more attractive than the cross. There’s nothing wrong with the half moon either. But the designers never dedicated their artistic efforts to them. But no, they were reminded of the limits of their artistic freedoms
This audacity of stepping onto the Christ’s cross hurt me truly. It made me pull out of my memories all the places where I had to watch the Christ’s cross in humiliation: I was shocked how much of that insolence existed. Let me remind you too: did you ever pay attention to those little rubber mats for bathtubs? People use them to prevent slipping. They are also intentionally, but unnecessarily mottled with crosses
Many times I had to walk on the hallway carpets in the buildings in my old parish. Like-it-or-not I had to step on crosses embroidered into the carpets: I simply could not fly. The fact that the non-Christians and the Christ-haters step onto the crosses is their own problem and sin. I do not need to swear to say that it would not give me any kind of pleasure to step to any sort of signs or symbols of human beliefs
Following my grievous thought, but with a reason, I remembered seeing plastic mats decorated with crosses in some toilets and urinals. So that dogs can disgrace the cross on the streets, and people can urinate on them in the toilets. To be certain, and make sure that, God forbid, I don’t say something that is not true; I searched the Internet to see what kinds of such things are offered on the market. Now, that I once searched those things, I can’t search anything else any more in peace. Every time I open the browser, pictures of toilets are popping up in every corner of the screen. There’s no room to display all that impudence. The picture is very clear: a urinal mat, used for people to step on while relieving themselves, intertwined with crosses
People that pass by, men, women, and children, all wear distinct symbols of their faith. You can recognize them by the way they dress, what they wear on their heads, what they cover their faces with, or by the way they cut their hair or shave their faces. Whatever their religion is, and regardless of what we think of it, they show and testify their religion proudly. While the summer sun is scorching she is wrapped in black; you cannot even see her eyes. And our “enlightened” and ” emancipated” women do not even have anything left to undress. Even that little piece of the remaining cloth on them reveals more than it covers. And they still sweat, puff, wipe, and sigh. And it appals them when they see the other ones, covered and wrapped in clothes enter the water
Now that I have returned to this subject, I remember, with unease: I have been given many challenges to which unfortunately I did not react. I was uncomfortable so I left it to others to deal with it. These, on the other hand, wherever in the world, if anyone tries to touch their faith, they fluster like threatened hornets, and they become world spread news
I do not justify their means, but I am ashamed by their determination
Even if we, the Christians, raise our voice, it somehow does not echo
For example, in Toronto, two young men opened a chain of ice-cream shops and they called it “Sweet Jesus”. I watched their advertisements, gently put, they are obscene and problematic. In one of them they put a blonde wig on a little girl, and they took her two front teeth out to get the devil sign used by the demonized, and down her little chin runs blood-like red liquid. Everything about it shows where they come from, what they strive for and who is behind them
Their plan is to spread to the south, to the United States. A few out of millions of so-called American Christians, make a petition, a few thousands sign, and things keep moving in the same direction. The two young men do not even think about changing the name of their shop
One has to conclude that the whole hustle was deliberately stirred up to draw attention. The advertising was successful. I look at the comments, and they prove it. Most of the comments can be brought down to something like this: “what do those dark, hard-core fundamentalists want, why are they even complaining. We should all buy only this ice cream just to spite them. One single comment summed up in one sentence my thinking, and I believe yours as well: “If this chain of ice cream shops were named “Sweet Mohammad’ they would be already razed to the ground
Our Lord that has been brutally and maliciously insulted, God of us Christians, tells us, Christians that we are the salt of the earth, and light of the world. “But if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? – He asked us. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (Matthew 5:13-14) Are they trampling us, they are. Do we need any clearer damnation of our coldness and carelessness?
In Greek the terms witness and Martyr are equivalent. The very first witness of the resurrected God, which testimony he paid in his blood and by his own life, was Saint Stephen. This tells us that testimony implies great martyrdom. We are far from that, but we can at least show some Christian dignity in everyday situations, in things that unfortunately became so “ordinary”. Are we Christians or, let’s admit, are we not? If you are a Christian you have to testify your faith. In secrecy, in what has been called since a long time ago by a mimic term “privacy”, you can believe, and you can prostrate in prayer until your legs hurt, but none of it is worth much unless your deeds testify your faith. Your faith has to be public. “Salvation is confessed with your mouth.” (Romans 10:9) “And I tell you everyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9
I will remind you of the last words that Lord had said before He ascended to heaven: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:8-9
Lord did not say: There, my mission on earth is complete; I paid for your sins with my blood, now you can lie down and enjoy the fruits of my suffering, and wait that I take you to heaven. No He said instead: “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) be my witnesses in every corner of the world. That’s Christ’s Testament and His Will
I know that we are powerless in many situations. The army of the Antichrist is terrible; legions and legions of armed to the teeth – in literal and in figurative sense. They are swiftly preparing a horrible play – to make their earthly god the king of all. If we cannot change the whole world, let’s at least, bring those insane autocrats to the “understanding of rights” and make them destroy those horrible weapons, and instead feed the hungry around this planet; if we can’t do that either, then each one of us at least can reject to participate in their evil doing, and not smile and wave their hand to the blasphemy of our Lord
If anything, I will not buy what humiliates my religion, and I will not help the greedy monsters with my pittance
Whenever you see that your voice might be heard, you raise it, and shout
Let’s give back ourselves our Christian and human dignity. Let’s be witnesses, faithful, impeccable, and virtuous, children of God, flawless among these wicked and villainous people.