Against the Grain
Carrying the Cross
Do you carry the cross with the grain or against the grain?
I often ask myself at the end of the day, “Have I carried the cross against the grain?”
With the grain means being a Christian in name only and not in practice. With the grain means avoiding difficulties, especially suffering and conflict. With the grain means God is taken for granted until something goes poorly, then He is immediately blamed.
With the grain also means being consumed in the culture, consumed in distractions, and consumed in oneself. With the grain means disregarding anything difficult from Jesus and embracing a soft, fluffy spirituality instead. With the grain means a meal without a sacrifice. With the grain means a fantasized resurrection which avoids the splinters of the Cross.
Against the grain means the path of the apostles and saints.
Against the grain embraces suffering, difficulty, and challenge. Against the grain forgives one’s enemies, it turns the other cheek. Against the grain knows that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another. Against the grain is selfless by being broken up and poured out for others.
Against the grain is denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following Jesus. Against the grain means blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for the Kingdom of God will be theirs.
Against the grain means being sent out like sheep amid wolves. Against the grain means being handed over to courts and scourged in synagogues. Against the grain means being led before governors and kings for the sake of Christ.
Against the grain means knowing that one will be hated because of the name of Jesus but still endures because of Christ’s promises.
With the grain is a comfortable, non-threatening approach to Christianity. With the grain reminds me of Screwtape’s advice to Wormwood in C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape, the experienced demon, informs Wormwood, the inexperienced demon, that “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” Screwtape was referring to carrying the Cross with the grain. It is a safe and gradual road to Hell.
Against the grain is an uncomfortable, threatening approach to Christianity. Against the grain demands that one lives life as if one’s life really were on the line (because it really is).
Against the grain reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Susan asks Mr. Beaver if Aslan, the lion, is safe. Mr. Beaver responds, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Jesus is not safe, that’s the point. Jesus is good though, that’s the point. Jesus is the King who carried His Cross against the grain, that’s the point.
Our contemporary culture seeks to take every sliver out of the Cross until it becomes a twig with which we can draw our own Gospel in the sand. The heart of the Gospel, on the other hand, reminds us that we are called to carry the Cross against the grain. Is it a safe approach? No. Is it the path of Christ? Yes.
Do you carry the cross with the grain or against the grain?
+ Fr. Ben Daghir
“There is no greater gift than laying down one’s life for another.” So good. This whole article was amazing.
This one really made me think. I wish I would have read this at the beginning of lent instead of the end. Excellent.