the tree of the cross
Once a person was seeking the Lord. They had told him about an invitation that he made to everyone to come to his Kingdom, where they say that he had reserved a dwelling for each one of his friends, and he also wanted to be a friend of the Lord. Why not? If others had done it, what prevented him from becoming one of them?
Finding out about his whereabouts, he found out that the Lord had gone into the mountains with an ax, in order to prepare for each of his friends, what he would need for the trip and went to look for him. The blows of the ax were guiding him to an island. He went through the forest trying to get closer to the place where the blows came from. At last he arrived and met the Lord himself who was preparing the crosses for each one of his friends, before leaving for his house, in order to arrange a place for each one.
-What are you doing? the young man asked the Lord.
-I am preparing each one of my friends the cross with which they will have to carry to follow me and thus be able to enter my Kingdom.
-Can I also be one of your friends? -asked the boy again-
-Of course! Jesus told him. It’s what he was waiting for you to ask me. If you really want to be, you will also have to take up your cross and follow in my footsteps. I have to go ahead to prepare a place for them.
-What is my cross, Lord?
-This is what I just did. Knowing that you were coming and seeing that the obstacles did not stop you, I set out to prepare it especially and with love for you.
The truth is that I was not very, very prepared. It was practically two trunks cut with an axe, without any kind of finish or repairs. The branches of the trunks had been cut from the bottom up, so pieces were sticking out everywhere. It was a cross of hard wood, quite heavy, and above all very poorly finished. When the young man saw her, he thought that the Lord had not taken great pains to prepare her. But since he really wanted to enter the Kingdom, he decided to carry her on his shoulders, starting the long way, with his eyes on the Master’s footprints. And he carried the awkward cross. The devil also made his appearance, it is his custom to be present on these occasions, and in that circumstance it was no different, because where God goes, the devil comes.
From behind he yelled at the young man who had already set off.
-You forgot something! Surprised by that call, he looked back and saw the very restrained devil, who was approaching smiling with the ax in his hand to deliver it to him.
-But how? Do I have to take the ax too? – asked the boy annoyed.
“I don’t know,” said the devil pretending to be innocent. But I think it is convenient that you take it for what may happen on the way. Otherwise, it would be a shame to leave such a beautiful ax abandoned.
The proposal seemed so reasonable to him that without thinking too much, he took the ax and resumed his journey. Hard road, for various reasons. First, and above all, by loneliness. He believed that he would do it with the visible company of the Master. But it turns out that he was gone, leaving only traces of him.
The cross always encloses loneliness, and sometimes the absence that hurts the most on this path is that of not feeling God by our side. Kind of like he had abandoned us.
The road was also hard for other reasons. Actually there was no road. They were just footprints in the bush. It was cold in that winter and the cross was heavy. Above all, she was annoyed at his lack of completion. It seemed as if the protrusions were bent on hooking everywhere in order to hold him. And they were embedded in his skin to make the road more painful.
One particularly cold and lonely night, he stopped to rest in a field. He deposited the cross on the ground, at the same time that he became aware of the usefulness that the ax could offer him. Perhaps the Evil One -who was secretly following him- helped a little by bringing the idea closer to him through the brightness of the instrument.
The truth is that the young man began to fix the cross. Calmly and slowly he was removing the knots that bothered him the most, eliminating those stumps of poorly cut branches, which were giving him so much trouble along the way. And he got two things.
First, improve the wood. And second, he managed to gather a small pile of firewood that came to him as ordered to prepare a bonfire with which to warm his cold hands. And so that night he slept peacefully.
The next morning he resumed his journey. And night after night her cross was improved, polished by the work he was doing on her.
While his cross improved and became more bearable, he also managed to have the necessary wood to make a fire every night.
He was almost grateful to the demon for having made him bring the ax with him. After all, it had been lucky to have that instrument that allowed her to work on his cross.
He was satisfied with the task, and even felt a little pride in his work of art. The cross was now a reasonable size and much lighter in weight. Well polished, it shone in the sunlight, and hardly bothered when he carried it on his shoulders. Shrinking it a little more, he would finally be able to raise it with one hand like a banner to identify himself to others as a follower of the crucified. And if they gave him time, he could condition her to such an extent that he would arrive in the Kingdom with the cross hanging from a chain around his neck as an ornament on his chest, to the joy of God and testimony before others.
And in this way he achieved his goal, that is, his goals. Because by the time he reached the walls of the Kingdom, he realized that thanks to his work, he was rested and could also present a very beautiful cross, which would certainly remain as a souvenir in the Father’s House.
Everything was not that easy. It turns out that the entrance gate to the Kingdom was placed on top of the wall. It was a narrow door, open almost like a window at an impossible height.
He called loudly, announcing his arrival. And from on high the Lord appeared to him inviting him to enter.
-But how, sir? I do not can. The door is too high and I can’t reach it.
“Lean the cross against the wall and then climb up it using it as a ladder,” Jesus replied. I purposely left you the knots to serve you. It is also just the right size so you can reach the entrance.
At that moment the young man realized that the cross he received had really made sense and that the Lord had really prepared him well. However, it was late. His little cross, polished and trimmed, seemed to her now a useless toy. It was very pretty but it was useless to enter. The devil, cunning as always, had turned out to be a bad adviser and a worse friend.
But, the Lord is kind and compassionate. He couldn’t ignore the boy’s willingness and generosity in wanting to follow him. That’s why he gave her advice and another chance.
-Retrace your steps. Surely on the way you will find someone who can no longer, and he has been crushed under his cross. Help him bring her. In this way you will enable him to make his way and arrive. And he will help you to get in…
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