It's that fish symbol that Christians use. Looks like two arcs coming together with a little overlap, which becomes the tail of the fish.
I've been thinking about ichthuses (there must be a better plural for it) a lot lately.
That symbol, the ichthus used to be a pagan symbol. Because the word in Greek which is spelled with those interesting Greek letters that my keyboard doesn't know how to do: Iota, Chi, Theta, Upsilon, Sigma, is also a word used for "womb." So it became a symbol for Mother Earth, creator, something like that (read about it yourself, it's interesting).
Definitely not the first non-Christian idea that Christians adapted as their own. Sometimes I have trouble thinking about that. Please, let's not open that can of worms today.
But anyway. The ichthus, and the symbol thereof, became a backronym, which is like the like an acronym in a weird which-came-first -chicken-or-egg kind of way. The backronym is "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior." It's interesting to read about, and easy to find info online if you're interested.
One story says that during the early days of Christianity, when Christians were being persecuted, if men met each other on the road, one would draw the top arc of the fish, and if the other man finished the symbol with the other arc, they knew they were safe and among friends. Whew. Tough to be a Christian in those days.
I think it's getting tougher to be Christian these days, too. That being said, have I personally been persecuted...no. But Christians ARE being persecuted. Some in horrifically terrifying ways. You've seen it on the news. I won't go into that. You've seen it.
I think, and feel free to stop reading at any time if you disagree and I won't mind, that in much more subtle and insidious ways, Christians are being persecuted a great deal in our country, and elsewhere The media is quick to stereotype Christians as uneducated, bigoted, racist, sexist, EVERY sort of "-ist" there is. We are portrayed as unaccepting, homophobic, hatred-mongering deniers of science, rights, privileges, and all the fun and free stuff in the world. And we are being forced in subtle and insidious ways to do things that go against our moral compass, things that threaten to erode goodness and truth in the world.
When all I really want to say is, "God is Love...Jesus is Love."
I want to be a good person. I want to love well and unconditionally. I want to help people and serve others. Am I perfect? Sooo far from it. But does Jesus love me? I don't doubt it for a moment. I am his favorite, and so are you. Please please please don't be insulted by my saying that I am His favorite. I've talked about this before on this very blog, so I won't explain again.
ANYWAY.
Like I said. I am so far from perfect. But I try to remember every day that I am here to be a light to others. There are so many ways to do that that sometimes I forget them ALL, if that makes any sense. So I need reminders.
It's why people read the Bible, or have a crucifix in their home, or make it a habit to pray at certain times of the day. Because none of us are perfect, or even close to it. But we know that there IS right and wrong. And those rights and wrongs are truth for everyone on the planet.
Still with me? Whew.
All of this thought has to do with a little thing I did for Father's Day. I made a bracelet for my husband. I knew when I made it that it was rugged and organic looking, and reminded me in a subtle way of the Crown of Thorns and therefore, the heart of my faith.
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| it's the one on the right |
What I didn't realize is that others would be reminded, too.
Do you see it? It's a reminder, and now my husband wears it every day. In fact, he wears it all day every day, whether he is showering or mowing or being an attorney. So now, it looks like this, which to me, reminds me even more of the Crown of Thorns.
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| I like how how this looks |
I just made a second bracelet a couple of days ago, for a woman who saw Bob wearing his and recognized something more than organic and rugged, and understood the symbolism.
Then, yesterday, I made a few more. I made one less rugged that a lady might prefer to wear. I don't tend to wear "rugged" well, either.
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| more and less delicate looks |
And then I made a different one for myself. It's more subtle in terms of the Crown of Thorns look, but I added a couple of symbols. On the back, closer to my heart IS a heart, and a little ichthus.
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| more subtle, symbolically? |
At least, I MEANT for it to be an ichthus. In my excitement to include this symbol and finish the bracelet (I'm not a patient person when there is a gift--especially for me--involved), my ichthus looks more like a goldfish cracker.
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| symbols on back |
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| heart on the right, ichthus(?) on the left |
I'm sorry. You can laugh and I won't be insulted. And I WILL get it better the next time I make one of these bracelets, I promise.
Anyway, since I made the bracelet (just yesterday), it has reminded me to think about my faith many, many times. I mess with it on my wrist (and look at the goldfish cracker :) ) and think about how I can be a better Christian.
I'm going to make a bunch of these bracelets. And sell them. Does that bother you? I hope not, because I need to pay the bills and light the lights and drive the car and buy food and stuff. If I didn't have to do those things, I'd be happy to make them for free.
Because I think, if you are Christian, or want to be, wearing something like this might help you. It's not something that people will be offended by if they see you walking down the street. It's not overt or pushy. It's just a very very subtle outward sign of an inward sign. And I like it.
And I personally think God thinks the goldfish cracker is funny, just like I do.
Happy Sunday!
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