A new creation

 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A wooden triptych sits on my desk at home. Folded up, it looks like a branch cut from a tree, four or five inches tall and two inches in diameter.

Unfold it on its string hinges and three figures rise in relief. On the left, a robed figure stands erect, hands together in prayer. A soldier, holding a sword, point down, directly in front of him, appears on the right. Both figures keep vigil over Jesus in the center panel, his arms spread wide on the cross.

A Wichi craftsman from the Chaco forest in northern Argentina carved the piece from a single piece of dark wood.

 I don’t know how long I’ve had it. I only know that in the last year it has become a sacrament in which I partake. It is there, waiting each day when I first come to my desk. Before I begin my work, I pick up it up, kiss the relief of Jesus and whisper to him, “I adore you, O Christ, and I bless you. By your holy cross you redeem the world.”

Without fail, the image of Jesus on the cross appears in my mind as I hold him close to my breath. His arms and body, wreathed with branches and leaves, reach out in welcome to take me in. Drawn into his eternal embrace, I am in him, part of him, wanted and loved, gathered with so many others whom I suppose are as needy as me.

With his love flowing through my heart and my lungs breathing the sweet air of freedom, the work can commence. For I know who I am, as only the heart can know. Once more aware that I am ever in Christ, I give myself to the work of the day, a free man.

Pr. David L. Miller