The cross is the defining symbol of Christianity. It is by turn misunderstood, misappropriated, venerated, and under-appreciated; absorbing a variety of meanings from the inspiring to the problematic. Inside or outside the church, its over-familiarity is its strength and its weakness, reduced at times to mere branding.

Yet within the New Testament scriptures, and the lives of the early Christian communities, ''the cross'' represents a multi-faceted theology which grapples with state violence, lament, supernatural healing, self-sacrifice; a life full of fear and mystery. By combing through those writings, we discover a cross which is not a static symbol but an unfinished process: defining the shape of our own lives, if we dare to let it.

The cross is the defining symbol of Christianity. It is by turn misunderstood, misappropriated, venerated, and under-appreciated; absorbing a variety of meanings from the inspiring to the problematic. Inside or outside the church, its over-familiarity is its strength and its weakness, reduced at times to mere branding.

Yet within the New Testament scriptures, and the lives of the early Christian communities, ''the cross'' represents a multi-faceted theology which grapples with state violence, lament, supernatural healing, self-sacrifice; a life full of fear and mystery. By combing through those writings, we discover a cross which is not a static symbol but an unfinished process: defining the shape of our own lives, if we dare to let it.

The cross is the defining symbol of Christianity. It is by turn misunderstood, misappropriated, venerated, and under-appreciated; absorbing a variety of meanings from the inspiring to the problematic. Inside or outside the church, its over-familiarity is its strength and its weakness, reduced at times to mere branding.

Yet within the New Testament scriptures, and the lives of the early Christian communities, ''the cross'' represents a multi-faceted theology which grapples with state violence, lament, supernatural healing, self-sacrifice; a life full of fear and mystery. By combing through those writings, we discover a cross which is not a static symbol but an unfinished process: defining the shape of our own lives, if we dare to let it.