When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel; but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they keep on sinning and make a cast image for themselves, idols of silver made according to their understanding, all of them the work of artisans. ‘Sacrifice to these’, they say. People are kissing calves! Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes away early, like chaff that swirls from the threshing-floor or like smoke from a window. (Hosea 13: 1-3)

What is the difference between kissing a silver calf or a golden crucifix?

What makes one action seem absurd and the other potentially profound?

For some each is equally ridiculous, an example of simple superstition.

But whether calf or crucifix the kiss reflects a believers faith, hope, and love for something beyond human limitation.

For Hosea kissing a calf - the empty work of an artisan - is clearly crazy.

For many kissing a crucifix honors the transcendent self-sacrifice of Jesus.

A symbol is a material object that represents the immaterial. It's power depends on whether the immaterial is True.