We often speak of the "crosses" we must carry in life. These can range from loss of a job to a serious or terminal illness to unhealthy relationships, and so on. The cross has become the wide-ranging metaphor for the trials, ills, and discomforts that are part and parcel of every human life. While we all understand this use of the word "cross," it does a disservice to what the Jesus of the Gospels means by it. For him, a "cross" is not some- thing that fate, bad luck, or unfortunate circumstances foists upon one. It is, instead, something one chooses, something one embraces.

For Jesus, carrying the cross in discipleship was the rejection of earthly possessions or status, it was the sundering of bonds of kinship or friendship. It was, above all, the necessary kind of self-sacrificing, self-surrendering choice one had to make in order to be a true disciple. When life hands us a "cross," we pray to the Lord to give us strength to bear it. If we are to be true disciples, we must also pray for the strength to reach out and willingly accept a cross as well. To bear up, with God's grace, under the burdens that are not of our own choosing does take a strong faith. But to walk willingly under the weight of the cost of discipleship shows an even stronger desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
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