15d • General discussion
The Imitation of Christ!
A friend on Facebook sent me this passage from the spiritual classic “The Imitation of Christ” this morning and it grabbed my attention and my heart.
Thomas à Kempis doesn’t sugarcoat it. The cross is not optional. It awaits us everywhere. The only question is not if we will carry one — but how.
I remember the first time I picked up The Imitation of Christ many years ago. I was drawn to it because of its reputation as a spiritual classic. But when I started reading it, it felt so deep… so direct… almost too intense. I never finished it. It asked more of me than I was ready to give at the time.
Now, all these years later, I feel ready to return to it. (At least this morsel to start with).
What struck me most in this passage is the difference between willing and unwilling surrender.
When we resist the cross — whether it’s a difficult family relationship, a financial burden, a health challenge, a strained relationship, a sacrifice we’re being invited to make — we increase the burden. We tighten around it. We complain. We carry it alone.
But when we take it up willingly and yoke ourselves to Jesus, something shifts.
The burden doesn’t disappear.
But it becomes shared.
And when we are yoked to Him, the load is lighter — not necessarily because life is easier, but because we are not pulling it by ourselves.
I’m planning to embrace this passage as part of my Lenten journey. Something to contemplate…
Where am I resisting?
Where am I trying to cast away a cross that may actually be the very path to deeper peace?
What would it look like to carry it willingly — hand in hand with Christ?
Maybe the invitation for us isn’t to go searching for a different path.
Maybe the “royal way of the holy cross” is already right in front of us.
I’d love to hear from you:
As you look toward Lent, what is one area of your life where you sense God inviting you to carry your cross more willingly?
Let’s walk this together — body, mind, and spirit — yoked to the One who carries it with us. 🤍
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The Imitation of Christ!
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