Devotions

I'm lying in bed, about to watch a movie as I type this on my laptop. Above me is an olive wood crucifix with a silver corpus. It hangs above my bed every night, I've even packed it along with me on trips and hung it above wherever I'm sleeping that night. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to do this often without putting further holes in a wall.

Anyway, the point is not that I hate sleeping in protestant surroundings. The point is the incarnation, and not just that the crucifix represents this, but that all our devotions, our sacramentals, represent this.

It is Catholic teaching that when He became human, took on a phyiscal form, Our Lord sanctified the physical world. This is part of why our Sacraments all have a necessary physical component. Our Lord is the true leader and king of this world. Satan is but the prince of air. The trees, dirt, roads, buildings, and even laptops with which we blog all belong rightfully to Him.

When I say this to protestants they tend to agree. They fail to make an innocent step in logic, however, and see that it stands to reason that we can then use physical items in our devotions and prayers. I don't understand why. Maybe once I knew, but if so I've forgotten it.

My crucifix reminds me, very forcefully as a matter of fact, that Christ watches over me (especially at that most unholy of hours 3:00AM, the hour opposite the moment Our Lord died and acted as the sacrifice for us all). I feel safer when it is there. Should I? Maybe, maybe not, but the fact remains that I do. Do I think that without that crucifix that Christ could not watch over and protect me? Of course not. The crucifix is for ME, Christ doesn't need it.

But Christ does understand that. As He has been human, He knows our weaknesses and desire for tangible things. He is a loving king, and so provides us with them. Let us not forget God's instructions to build the ark of the covenant (and cover it with images of seraphim) or the copper snake (which He allowed to be the instrument of His grace in healing His children).

So as I drift off, listening to my movie, I'll see reflected in the finger-print covered screen of my laptop a silver corpus, looking down on me, and I'll remember that in Heaven there is a true God, looking down in the same way.