All the crosses of this world

All the crosses of this world

My image of the past week is shaped by the immeasurable suffering, as the flood disaster in Nepal has now again washed into our news channels. The chosen weekly photo carries a story within it that contradicts the stereotypes in a surprising and moving way: The crosses come from a bike mechanic who, on the side, works up wood scraps in his workshop. While he repairs and advises customers up front in the shop, from a simple children's bicycle to a top E-bike machine, he has a box of wood scraps in a back room. In quieter hours, he files and crafts wonderful wooden crosses out of these seemingly worthless remnants. Not only that, he refines the brittle, the ugly with gold. He shows these handworks only to selected customers, and so we too were allowed to hold a few specimens in our hands once. They lie softly and smooth in the hand. The different structures fascinate. Out of unwieldy wood waste, the mechanic puts parts together, solders and sands them until they form such a strong symbol of the cross. When asked how he came to this and whether he might be a Christian, he says: He believes in God, but is not a Christian. "In the passport, it even says something else". But when he held the fragments in his hands, it was clear to him that they were to become crosses. "What the religions all prescribe does not interest him," he mentions in passing. And yet: crosses, so gentle and strong at once, come into being. They draw all eyes. Back to the disasters of our time: summer heat 2026, fires on the edges and in the midst of Europe, wars, famines, and now this dreadful flood disaster: all crosses that the mostly already poor population in many countries must additionally endure. These crosses shout across to us. They overwhelm and call us out of our snail shells of indifference. I look at the cross in my hand: There is One who makes something whole out of all the fragments and suffering of this world and who feels deeply with us. But our compassion and our commitment to more justice are also needed.