The Cross and the Cellar

Morton T. Kelsey, “The Cross and the Cellar,” from The Cross: Meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ, by Morton T. Kelsey. New York: Paulist Press, copyright © 1980 by Morton T. Kelsey. Used by permission.

as posted at http://www.bruderhof.com/articles/TheCellar.htm?source=DailyDig


"Each of us has underneath our ordinary personality, which we show to the public, a cellar in which we hide the refuse and rubbish which we would rather not see ourselves or let others see. And below that is a deeper hold in which there are dragons and demons, a truly hellish place, full of violence and hatred and viciousness. Sometimes these lower levels break out, and it is to this lowest level of humans that public executions appeal."

"In the cross this level of our being has thrust itself up out of its deepest underground cellar so that we humans may see what is in all of us and take heed. The cross is crucial because it shows what possibilities for evil lie hidden in human beings. It is the concretion of human evil in one time and place. Whenever we look upon the cross, which was simply a more fiendish kind of gibbet, we see what humankind can do, has done, and still does to some human beings. It can make us face the worst in ourselves and in others, that part of us which can sanction a cross or go to watch a crucifixion. The cross is the symbol, alive and vivid, of the evil that is in us, of evil itself."

"Scratch the surface of a person and below you find a beast or worse than a beast. (For animals seldom play with their victims.) This is what the cross says. We don't like to believe this, but let's look at the facts. Who were the ones who ran the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, kept the gas ovens fed, made lamp shades out of tatooed human skin, who performed the mass murders and executions? It is important to remember that Germany was the most literate and educated nation in the world. We think that the people who did these things must have been perverted monsters. Actually most of them, until they stepped into these roles, had been peaceful German burghers who had never hurt a person, living quietly and peacefully in their comfortable homes, and then the devils in them were let loose."

<snip>
(Toward the end of the article, Kelsey considers those who crucified Our Lord.)

"Let us look at some of the people who brought Jesus of Nazareth to crucifixion. They were not monsters, but ordinary men and women like you and me."

"Pilate receives most of the blame for Jesus' death, and yet Pilate didn't want to crucify the man. Why did Pilate condemn Jesus? Because Pilate was a coward. He cared more about his comfortable position than he did about justice. He didn't have the courage to stand for what he knew was right. It was because of this relatively small flaw in Pilate's character that Jesus died on a cross. Whenever you and I are willing to sacrifice someone else for our own benefit, whenever we don't have the courage to stand up for what we see is right, we step into the same course that Pilate took."


Worth reading on this Palm Sunday, as we all must say "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" in the Gospel re-enactment of His Passion at Mass. (The Daily Dig service that sends readings to e-mail addresses for free brought this to me today; check it out if you enjoy a regular source for inspirational readings.)

:kick: