Here I’m going to demonstrate for you how one can have a mystical contemplation of the Cross, one that is based on numbers. I have blogged much about how people misuse numbers and misuse spirituality, but use of the term misuse (as in using something improperly) implies that there are proper ways to do these things. I love meditation, mysticism and numbers! But I am very strict that they only be used in a God centered and spirit lifting way, not as props for human ego. So here is an exercise I’ve developed for you, an example of how one can meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ and the Cross, using numbers, in a God centered way.
With this meditation I am also making a second point. Protestants tend to not represent the body of Christ on the cross, while Catholics display and venerate the crucifixion, the cross with the body of Christ. This meditation will demonstrate that depictions are important and how a minimalist modern “progressive” use of the symbol actually curtails the richness of the meditative spiritual experience. In other words, this meditation unfolds but completes very quickly if one is only pondering the Cross without the corpus.
1 There is only one cross.
2 There are two axes of the cross, vertical and horizontal.
3 The one cross unites the ground and the sky.
At this point one rather runs out of meditation, since one is only contemplating the Cross without contemplating Christ. Here is how Catholic mystics would develop this meditation on the Cross that is the crucifixion.
1 There is only one Jesus Christ.
2 Jesus Christ and the wooden cross.
3 There are three nails.
4 Christ, the Cross, the ground and the sky.
5 The three nails, the lance piercing the side and the crown of thorns.
6 Three nails through three positions on Christ’s body, each hand and the combined feet.
7 Christ, the Cross, the ground, the sky and three nails affix them together.
8 The arms and legs of Christ and the four arms of the Cross.
9 Christ, nail and Cross three times.
10 Christ, nail and Cross three times, and the Cross is placed in the ground like a nail.
11 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross is placed in the ground like a nail, and Christ’s gaze up to heaven.
12 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, and his Mother, from whose womb he was born, stands beside him.
13 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, his Mother who he emerged from beside him and John the Apostle that he loved stands beside him. (Later John will be the fastest Apostle to arrive running to the tomb of the resurrected Christ).
14 The seven last words of Christ, the three nails, the lance piecing the side and the crown of thorns, the ground and the sky, all bound together.
15 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, Mary his Mother, John the Apostle, and the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ.
16 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, Mary his Mother, John the Apostle, the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ, and the Temple on the horizon.
17 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, Mary his Mother, John the Apostle, the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ, the Temple on the horizon, and the city of Jerusalem.
You see? You can go on and find every number in this meditation of the crucified Christ, and all this does is to safely unfold more and more of the mystery and the glorification of God. This is the difference between focusing on numbers and becoming overly fascinated by them to the point of giving them a reality that does not exist, and using a love of numbers to glorify God and unfold a richness of a spiritual meditative experience and learning. That is also one of my objectives in developing this meditation, to help people who are "counters" and overly fascinated with the meaning of numbers to have a proactive way to restore balance. With this meditation you see that all numbers are located in the Crucifixion, and thus there are no good, bad, missing or controlling "numbers." Numbers or, rather, the ability to count are another gift from God to humans to make their day to day life easier, but also to use in spiritually uplifting ways that remain God focused, opening up greater understanding, spirituality and mysticism rather than binding and narrowing it down due to the slavery of superstitious thinking.
I hope that you use this meditation in your own devotions. Ponder it as I presented it, and then further develop it in your own unique way, always keeping the mind, heart and focus on the glory of God rather than the meditative tools themselves.
With this meditation I am also making a second point. Protestants tend to not represent the body of Christ on the cross, while Catholics display and venerate the crucifixion, the cross with the body of Christ. This meditation will demonstrate that depictions are important and how a minimalist modern “progressive” use of the symbol actually curtails the richness of the meditative spiritual experience. In other words, this meditation unfolds but completes very quickly if one is only pondering the Cross without the corpus.
1 There is only one cross.
2 There are two axes of the cross, vertical and horizontal.
3 The one cross unites the ground and the sky.
At this point one rather runs out of meditation, since one is only contemplating the Cross without contemplating Christ. Here is how Catholic mystics would develop this meditation on the Cross that is the crucifixion.
1 There is only one Jesus Christ.
2 Jesus Christ and the wooden cross.
3 There are three nails.
4 Christ, the Cross, the ground and the sky.
5 The three nails, the lance piercing the side and the crown of thorns.
6 Three nails through three positions on Christ’s body, each hand and the combined feet.
7 Christ, the Cross, the ground, the sky and three nails affix them together.
8 The arms and legs of Christ and the four arms of the Cross.
9 Christ, nail and Cross three times.
10 Christ, nail and Cross three times, and the Cross is placed in the ground like a nail.
11 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross is placed in the ground like a nail, and Christ’s gaze up to heaven.
12 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, and his Mother, from whose womb he was born, stands beside him.
13 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, his Mother who he emerged from beside him and John the Apostle that he loved stands beside him. (Later John will be the fastest Apostle to arrive running to the tomb of the resurrected Christ).
14 The seven last words of Christ, the three nails, the lance piecing the side and the crown of thorns, the ground and the sky, all bound together.
15 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, Mary his Mother, John the Apostle, and the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ.
16 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, Mary his Mother, John the Apostle, the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ, and the Temple on the horizon.
17 Christ, nail and Cross three times, the Cross like a nail in the ground, Christ’s gaze up to heaven, Mary his Mother, John the Apostle, the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ, the Temple on the horizon, and the city of Jerusalem.
You see? You can go on and find every number in this meditation of the crucified Christ, and all this does is to safely unfold more and more of the mystery and the glorification of God. This is the difference between focusing on numbers and becoming overly fascinated by them to the point of giving them a reality that does not exist, and using a love of numbers to glorify God and unfold a richness of a spiritual meditative experience and learning. That is also one of my objectives in developing this meditation, to help people who are "counters" and overly fascinated with the meaning of numbers to have a proactive way to restore balance. With this meditation you see that all numbers are located in the Crucifixion, and thus there are no good, bad, missing or controlling "numbers." Numbers or, rather, the ability to count are another gift from God to humans to make their day to day life easier, but also to use in spiritually uplifting ways that remain God focused, opening up greater understanding, spirituality and mysticism rather than binding and narrowing it down due to the slavery of superstitious thinking.
I hope that you use this meditation in your own devotions. Ponder it as I presented it, and then further develop it in your own unique way, always keeping the mind, heart and focus on the glory of God rather than the meditative tools themselves.
