From Israel #8
Today we walked the Via Delarosa (the way of suffering) which is the path Jesus walked from His trial to His crucifixion. Along the way there are 14 “stations of the cross.” If you’re new to this stuff (and not Catholic), the stations of the cross are 14 spots along the way where it’s believed that something happened. Some of these are incidents that are recorded in the bible (like Jesus falling) and some are not in the bible but have become “tradition” (like a woman named Veronica coming out of the crowd to comfort Jesus). So, anyway, here’s something I thought about during the walk, and wrote down immediately after:
When we began this holy walk I was prepared to travel this path in a sacred focus.
But quickly my attention was assaulted by a myriad of distractions. My first reaction was that all of it was unbelievably inappropriate. However, I then realized that this was the path, with all the distractions, that Jesus had to walk. And that this is the path, with all the distractions, that I walk. So my attitude changed…
When people tried to sell me something, I thought, “You know, it would be inappropriate for it not to be this way.”
When all the noise pulled my attention away from Jesus, “It would be inappropriate for it not to be this way.”
When my view of the divine was obstructed by signs of politics and power, “It would be inappropriate for it not to be this way.”
When the bra and underwear stands gave the allure of sex, “It would be inappropriate for it not to be this way.”
When I realized that yesterday I had shopped and purchased things in a store on this holy path, without realizing I was standing in a holy place, “It would be inappropriate for it not to be this way.”
When my mind would not stop wandering, “It would be inappropriate for it not to be this way.”
Jesus’ life, the circumstances and sights and sounds of His life, were not clean and sterile, purified from the stain of this world. He did not have holiness served to Him on a silver platter.
Why would I expect my life, the circumstances and sights and sounds of my life, to be any different?
Jesus, please help me to find the profound in the profane; to hear your still small voice in the rumbling big volume of this world; to see You everywhere I go, slipping in and out of the crowds, peeking through life’s circumstances; to know that this place, and everyplace, is a place to take off my sandals – for it is all holy ground.
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