A vertical line and a horizontal line meet. A simple form, yet one that can raise many questions within us: where does that which guides us come from, where does it intersect with our everyday lives, and what do we do with what we have recognised?
In this essay, I examine the cross from the perspective of my own spiritual outlook. I am not seeking a single interpretation that excludes all other meanings, but rather that inner movement which leads from a connection to the Source to love experienced in the here and now.
The vertical dimension: receiving
For me, the heart is a gateway. In my own spiritual outlook, information coming from the Source enters through this gateway, and only then do we try to understand it with our minds and put into words what we have received. I am not suggesting that the mind is unnecessary; I am describing its role: it helps us to consciously unpack the insights that come through the heart and to integrate them into our daily lives. I express this sequence as a spiritual conviction, not as an anatomical pathway.
There is a difference between being able to express a thought and recognising its truth from within. I can talk about love whilst, at the same time, putting up a defence with every sentence I utter. And it may happen that, in a quiet moment, I do not receive new information, but rather recognise something that had always been close at hand.
When I refer to the heart as the seat of the realisation of truth, I am thinking of this deeper connection. Not that every strong feeling or initial intuition we have is infallible. Inner awareness also involves sincere discernment: what am I actually hearing, and what is it that I merely wish to hear?
Knowledge and spiritual wisdom are therefore not the same thing to me. The former can be gathered and refined; the latter is linked to the certainty that we are not cut off from the Source.
The horizontal dimension: living what we receive
In the horizontal axis, I see our life on earth. Our relationships, our responsibilities, our decisions: everything in which what we have recognised within ourselves can become visible.
That is why the convergence of these two perspectives is important. It is not enough to look upwards if, in doing so, we fail to notice the person standing right next to us. But it can also happen that we become so absorbed in our tasks that we no longer ask ourselves what motivates our actions.
For me, the centre of the cross is the meeting point of these two dimensions. It is where the teaching about love becomes awareness, a clear decision, help, or even a necessary boundary.
The crossroads: making a choice
Even after realising something, we may still choose to repeat our usual response. Or we can pause and consider how we might proceed differently.
In my own view, I also understand spiritual growth as a change in energetic quality. I do not rank people’s worth, nor do I measure the number of courses attended or books read. The question is whether what I have taken in brings me closer to love and the realisation of oneness.
This change may present difficulties. Letting go of an old self-image or a familiar defence mechanism is not always easy, but suffering is not an ‘entry fee’ that we are obliged to pay.
Taking responsibility does not mean that we are to blame for everything that happens to us. It means that, where we do have a choice, we try to be fully present in the moment and, if necessary, accept help.
At the meeting point
For me, the cross does not call on me to give up my life on earth. Rather, it reminds me that I can experience a connection with God even in the midst of it all.
Perhaps that is why it is worth pausing for a moment to reflect on this simple form. What do I already understand about love, and how might it manifest itself in the way I live my life today?
With love,
Georgina
Soul4you