I have always loved the Mojave Desert. I experience peace and solitude when traveling in the Mojave. I know what your thinking. What in the name of Mike is so important to visit or see in the Mojave Desert. I could easily spend a day talking about my feelings for the Mojave. Lets just say for now that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Actually there is, I mean there was a Cross sitting high on a Mojave hill for all to see but evidently there are some people that have no interest in seeing this Cross and after taking their complaints to our Courts, the Cross was ordered to be covered for the present. This complaint has nothing to do with beauty but meaning and symbolism. I have only seen pictures of the Cross and now it is too late. The Courts have ordered the Cross to be covered with plywood in order to protect those citizens who may be offended by the values they themselves attribute to the Cross. So I am confronted with the idea I have not seen the Cross personally and because of the absence of tolerance and the prejudices of others I may never see this gift that was erected to honor those Americans who answered the call of their Country with their very lives. I also have not seen Disneyland. I understand from some this is un-American. Like most vacation destinations that people want to see I thought I had time since by most people's standards I am still a young man although my wife may have different thoughts about this last statement. 

      I would not have made a good vampire because I love looking at Crosses. I am no different from most Americans who consider themselves believers or disciples of Jesus. The Cross reminds me of my Lord's gift and simply put it was his life for mine. The Cross reminds me of sacrafice, love, devotion, hope and mercy. When I see a Cross standing over a grave or in an area where there are graves and these graves are for our Military, I think of these men and women's sacrafice. I think of hope, freedom, goodness, honor and commitment not necessarily devotion to a Christian faith or God. The Crosses we see and focus on are to recognize and bring honor to those who are resting in peace. These Crosses are not locked into or left with only one meaning and that meaning to bring worship or praise to a Christian God. I imagine the Crosses were put over the graves to give honor to the men and women who served their Country. Maybe just maybe the Mojave Cross was raised to honor the dead and again with all respect not to draw attention to or provide honor to a Christian God. 

     Yes the Cross is used as a religious symbol but it can mean or stand for other ideas. The cross only has the value that one is willing to give it. There is a more important issue at hand and I would think most Christians would agree. When Christians look at the Cross we make no excuse and we are not interested in watering down its meaning. Christians are not interested or at least we should not be interested in slipping one by. A very old friend once said to me ''what you win a person with is what you win them to.'' My friend was talking about truth, honesty and the realty of our convictions. For Christians the Cross means God's love and salvation through Christ who died for our sins. As for the people who actually condemn Jesus the Cross was nothing more than a murder weapon. Christians give the Cross meaning and value but what about these people who want the Desert Cross taken down because after being there for 70 years it was discovered to be on Government I mean Tax payer property. These people want the cross removed. They say it is offensive because the symbol represents a religion. The Cross is honoring the dead not the living and no one is using the Cross as a tool to save souls or proselytize. This Cross is offensive to some and a comfort to others. Just what is this terrible offensive being suffered by the people who are complaining. Is it the fact that the greatest commandment in the Bible is ''love your neighbor as yourself and to love God,'' and that these statements were made by the man who died on the Cross. Yes the very man who spread love by telling the world we are supposed to love our enemy and turn the other cheek and respect our parents, help the poor, stop stealing, well you get the idea. If you are not a believer or even if you hate religion and everything about religion then why bother. This Desert Cross was erected to honor our soliders who have fought and fallen in battle to protect the freedoms of our citizens.

     It is beyond my thinking how anyone who is intelligent can come to the conclusion that this Cross was erected with the idea of doing harm. The obvious meaning was to honor and draw attention to the fallen not to provide praise or worship to the Christian Deity. There is nothing wrong with the Desert Cross. The citizens who built the Cross obviously felt it represented good and something Holy in nature. The people who erected the Cross were offering their best and in offering their best were attempting to honor those who have served our Country in war. Are there bad people out there that have done bad things in the name of their religions and faith? Yes there are people who have done terrible things in the name of their God. The people who built the Cross were only trying to do good. Those who are attacking this Cross and demanding its removal have gone far beyond political correctness. These people who are claiming to be offended are purposely confusing good with bad, a common practice of the Devil.

     A good friend of mine sent an anonymous quote that I think says it all. ''If a conservative is a nonbeliever, he doesn't go to Church. A liberal nonbeliever wants any mention of God or religion silenced.'' In maintaining the Desert Cross no one is asking anyone or suggesting to anyone to ''repent and get saved.'' When understood correctly Christianity is a faith that teaches love and acceptance. Are there distortions and abuses? Is that a trick queston? When a man or woman turn their mind, heart and soul to God a very private journey

begins or happens between God and that person. Why are a few people so angry? The Cross has no magic to manipulate, influence or control others. The Cross is either meaningful or meaningless depending on one's private view. An old Greek philosopher once said "it is not things that make us crazy but how we look at things." Our citizens who truly understand the Christian faith tradition that concerns itself with the Cross and its meaning through the New Testatment understands the Cross represents or stands for a model for love that will motivate and inspire humanity to love each other. Here is the proof. ''This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.''

I John 4: 9-11