Margaret Duarte

Visionary Fiction

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Holding Cross, A Comfort in Times of Need

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Last year, I attended a memorial service for my friend’s mother, Eileen.

While sharing Eileen’s life story, the minister held up a Holding Cross and said it had given Eileen comfort during her final hours.

The Holding Cross, he explained, was specially created to give patients something meaningful to hold on to in time of need.

It’s not a traditionally shaped cross, but smooth and with rounded edges to make it feel good in the palm of the hand.

I instantly fell in love with this sacred symbol and the idea behind it, and I wanted one for myself (though I’m hardly sick or infirm).  It would be a comfort, I reasoned, to hold the cross any time I was in need of divine inspiration.

Every day is full of new discoveries, and since I believe in the value of spiritual tools, no matter what their religious origin, I considered The Holding Cross a great find.  I pictured having one at my bedside or in my purse, and I thought it would make a wonderful gift.

On the Holding Cross website, I found The Holding Cross Story and discovered that the cross is used in 18 denominations and 21 countries to bring comfort in myriad ways.

It’s such an uplifting story during a time of endless bad news that, on this “Tools and Techniques Tuesday,”  I wanted to share.

As always, thanks for stopping by,

About Margaret Duarte

Former middle school teacher, Margaret Duarte, lives on a California dairy farm with a herd of “happy cows,” a constant reminder that the greenest pastures lie closest to home. Margaret earned her creative writing certificate through UC Davis Extension and has since published four novels in her “Enter the Between” visionary fiction series: Between Will and Surrender, Between Darkness and Dawn, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, and Between Now and Forever. Her poem and story credits include SPC Tule Review; The California Writers Club Literary Review; finalist in the 2017 SLO Nightwriters Golden Quill Writing Contest; First Place winner for fiction in 2016, Second Place winner for fiction in 2018, Honorable Mention for fiction in 2019, and Gold winner for fiction in 2020 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS Book Awards Competition; 2019 California Author Project winner for adult fiction.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rosi says

    When I had breast cancer ten years ago, my daughter Maggie gave me a small river rock on which she had painted the word “Survive.” I kept it with me and held onto it when I could. It was very comforting. And clearly it worked. I’ve been cancer free for ten years! WooHoo! Maybe I’ll find it and put it on my writing desk. It’s pretty inspirational to me.

  2. Jodine Turner says

    Beautiful, Margaret. I felt the comfort just from your description. It grounds the energy of love and comfort in our physical world, instead of an abstract concept.

  3. Margaret Duarte says

    Some people would call the river rock your totem. I’m definitely in agreement that symbols, especially ones we can hold, are a great aid to recovery and comfort in times of need. I’m so glad your are cancer free, Rosi. You have much to give to the world.

  4. Margaret Duarte says

    Hi Jodine. The cross indeed converts an abstract concept – that of love and comfort – into something physical. In this case, something to hold. The person who thought of and crafted this cross truly has a loving heart.