Denial of Material Selfhood and Taking Up the Cross

Denial of Material Selfhood and Taking Up the Cross
Cruciform #1 by Polly Castor

Cruciform #1 by Polly Castor

“Christ Jesus once said to his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” How can we follow the Master except by gaining the spiritual understanding he possessed, and putting it into practice? And does not spiritual understanding, the knowledge of God and His perfect creation, enable us to deny material selfhood? And is not the denial of material selfhood the taking up of the cross? … But let there be no mistake: he who spoke the words just quoted also told those “that labour and are heavy laden,” when he invited them to come to him that they might have rest, that his yoke was easy and his burden light.”

Duncan Sinclair

Cruciform #2 by Polly Castor

Cruciform #2 by Polly Castor

I work to amplify good wherever I find it. I love color, texture, beauty, great ideas, nature, metaphor, deliciousness, genuine spirituality, and exploring new territory. I encourage authenticity, nurture creativity, champion sustainability, promote peace, and hope to foster a new renaissance where we all are free to be our most fulfilled, multifaceted, and terrific selves. Read more here.

2 Comments

  1. Susan 5 years ago

    Simply beautiful, thank you Polly.

  2. Karen Montanaro 5 years ago

    Thanks for this post, Dear Polly! Your Cruciforms are spectacular (!) and Duncan Sinclair’s quotation strikes a resonant chord. Mrs. Eddy writes, “The so-called substance of bone is formed first by the parent’s mind, through self-division. Soon the child becomes a separate, individualized mortal mind, which takes possession of itself and its own thoughts of bones.” (S&H 423:32) It occurs to me that the body is a cultural continuum and that metaphysicians “take up the cross” or take possession of this continuum as soon as that original light (“Let there be light.”) dawns within them.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Send this to friend