THE HORIZONTAL AND THE VERTICAL
The cross, in more ways than one, represents who we are as Christians and what it means to be a Christian. On one level it reminds us that the cross and all that it symbolizes is part and parcel of the living out of our faith. It is a reminder that no one is immune to carrying a cross and no one escapes from his or her fair share. As for Jesus, so with us as his followers: we too have to take up our crosses daily and follow our Lord.

On another level, the cross is a reminder of the horizontal and vertical relationships that are also part and parcel of our lives as Christians. The horizontal beam signifies our relationship one to another in this world of ours. It is a time-centered relationship. We meet and encounter one another at various points of time, interacting as we do.

These encounters are all too often regulated by the clock. We are engaged in a lively conversation, take a glance at our watch and say, “Oops. Gotta go. Have another appointment in ten minutes.” And off we go to another meeting or another something else and on the way check our Palm Pilot or Daytimer to see how much time we can give to this meeting or this item on our agenda.

Thus, it is not without a sense of truth that Gary Eberle observes in Sacred Time and the Search for Meaning: “People treat their daily planners the way monks and nuns used to treat their prayer books. They keep them close at all times. They clasp them with missionary zeal as they head from meeting to meeting…yet none of this points beyond our horizontal realm to the vertical realm in which we also live.”

For as Christians the vertical beam of the cross reminds us why we are doing what we are doing and gives meaning and life to the horizontal realm. Without the vertical realm the horizontal realm becomes simply a chasing after something, whatever that something is, that in the end will have no meaning and bring no lasting pleasure or satisfaction. With the vertical in place, everything we do has meaning even if it is sometimes too regulated by the clock, and will be pleasing and satisfying even if it does not turn out the way we had hoped or planned.

Jesus never intended to die on the cross and his followers never intended to be put to death because they believed in him and followed his commands. Yet even in suffering and dying they knew what they were doing and why and they were not doing so in vain even if it seemed to everyone else they were fools. They understood the vertical and horizontal relationship of being a Christian, a both-and; not an either-or.

My Palm Pilot may be my guide through my daily rounds, be a record of whatever I do and am supposed to do in the days and weeks to come. But if that is all it is, if it is not a reminder that what I am doing is goodly and Godly, then I had better toss it and refocus my attention on what is truly important.

WJP