THE CROSS AS EXPERIENCE, NOT SACRIFICE

THE CROSS AS EXPERIENCE, NOT SACRIFICE

The cross did not originate as a symbol of suffering.

It represented intersection:

• time and awareness

• choice and consequence

• inner life and outer action

To “carry the cross” was to live consciously within tension — not to seek punishment or redemption.

Later religious systems moralized the symbol. Mystery traditions psychologized it.

At the center of the cross is awareness.
When awareness is present, experience refines.
When it is absent, experience hardens.

The symbol never changed.
Its interpretation did.