catapult magazine

Gaudi’s cross the community of two

by Ellyn Wilkoff

Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. (Isaiah 8:18)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

In an interview with Vicente A. Salaverri, Gaudí said:

Men are divided into two categories: men of words and men of action. The former talk, the latter act. I belong to the second group. I lack the means of expressing myself. I could not tell you about the concept of art. I need to give it a concrete form.

When I consider the symbol of the cross it speaks of Jesus and the vertical relationship I have with “Christ above me” (one line of St. Patrick’s  breastplate).  But when I survey Gaudi’s cross, I experience the whole armor of St. Patrick’s confession, akin to Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:17-18: “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

This multifaceted experience with the cross begins simply with the confession, “Christ within me” (Colossians 1:27).  If I neglect to remember that I have brethren in this confessional experience I am missing grace and diminishing the experience of God in my life.

In searching for evidence of Christ’s community this week, I re-visited catapult’s 2006 issue and its link to Reba Place Fellowship.  An interview with member Carol Steiner was included on the Reba Place site in May of 2007.  I sent this article to a friend in my current community who suffers from chronic illness.  Her response illustrates the principle of Gaudi’s cross and confirms the truth of 2 Corinthians 3:3: “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Thank you for being Jesus to me. You are one of the few who really understand what God is doing in my life and the lives of my family. It is a beautiful thing if you look at it through the redeeming eyes of Christ. He can take any situation and expose His majesty in it and the pureness of the result of trusting Him. The community is the key. He never wanted us to be alone—He wants us to trust that each of us has meaning and purpose to each other. He tells us to love each other immediately after He tells us to love Him first. Bless that person for writing that article. 

Doc C. got back to me in between surgeries and wants me in on Friday for more tests. He read my chart and feels this is necessary; so does Doc R. I am nervous—pray for my mind to be on Christ and not on my surroundings. I should be home the same day depending on what they find and how I handle the tests.

I love you for your love for our Savior and your shared vision that Christ has given two controlling, high anxiety servants who love and need Him.

Henri Nouwen expresses his understanding in these words,

Your own growth cannot take place without growth in others. You are part of a body. When you change, the whole body changes. It is very important for you to remain deeply connected with the larger community to which you belong. It is also important that those who belong to the body of which you are a part keep faith in your journey. You still have a way to go, and there will be times when your friends are puzzled or even disillusioned by what is happening to you. At certain moments things may look worse than when you began. You still have to make the great passage, and that might not happen without a lot of new distress and fear. Through all of this, it is important for you to stay united with the larger body of Christ and know that your journey is made not just for yourself but for all who belong to the body. Think about Jesus. He made His journey and asked His disciples to follow him even where they would not rather go. The journey you are choosing is Jesus' journey, and whether or not you are fully aware of it, you are also asking your brothers and sisters to follow you. Somewhere you already know that what you are living now will not leave the other members of the community untouched. Your choices also call your friends to make new choices. (The Inner Voice of Love)

Always your friend,  R.

I praise God for all the creative people touched by God and blessed by an experience with Christ that is not uni-dimensional.  It begins with a community of two, “Christ in me, the hope of glory.”  Then comes The Gathering and I cannot imagine where it ends.

Blessings on catapult’s collective community in its five years of perseverance.