STATION 2: THE CLASSICAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS
As I mentioned in the introduction, the Catholic church has preserved the classical stations of the cross--15 events which happened within the last 24 hours Jesus was on the earth. Those 15 stations are as follows.
There are songs that are structured around these 15 events. Much art and poetry has been dedicated to them. What I want to present is the idea that these 15 events live and breath very well for us as sign posts within the language of symbolism. If you are not familiar with the language of symbolism, it is a very Biblical term much like Jesus' parables, wherein we see heavenly or spiritual interpretations coming from earthly physical events.
The language of symbolism, as it is applied to these classical Stations of the Cross, portrays a beautiful and deeply moving account of each of our lives, as we struggle to gain acceptance and find purpose and meaning. These need not have to do with any grand glorious eternal scheme, but can actually apply to day to day difficulties and problems that we might have, for example: losing a job, failing to accomplish a goal, losing face in front of co-workers, being demoted, going through a divorce, whatever.
What I will attempt to do is, in very broad brush strokes, paint for you these events and what they could say to us through the language of symbolism.
Part 1
Jesus is condemned to death. This is the moment when we realize our failure. When we have lost the job, when we know that our marriage is over, when the football game is over and we have lost. We are condemned to death. That part of us must die, and we must move on to something new. We must carry our own cross.
Part 2
If we are mature, then we will not let anyone else intentionally carry our cross. We must be responsible for our own lives, for our own failure, and we must be personally responsible for the implement upon which we will die. Remember the 5 essential words: "I Am Not A Victim."
Part 3
But, as this happens we fall, because of the great burden of bearing our cross. Because of the sorrow that we bear, because of the weakness which we have, we are not always successful. Even in our attempts to deal with our personal failure, we will fall and collapse under the weight of this burden.
Part 4
Jesus meets His afflicted mother. The mother, you see, is the source and origin of our lives. This situation that we are in has parentage, a reason, or a cause. At this point in our lives when we are completely exhausted and completely in failure, we meet our mother. We contemplate the reasons why we are where we are. This can be a profound time, but it can also be a very sad time. Because our mother is afflicted, she is sad. We have sought to cause good things to come to pass, and our wedding day, which is the mother of our divorce, is, in fact, Jesus' mother in affliction. Almost as in a dream, we see that every personal failure has a cross to be carried, and every personal failure has a mother, or a cause which has become afflicted and sad.
Jesus meets His mother and basically gives her away. He says, "Mother behold thy son, son behold thy mother." Speaking not of Himself but of John, He gives away His mother in a legal ceremony to His disciple. Symbolically, we try to divorce ourselves from our mother and help her to recognize that the failing is ours, and not her own, that she will be taken care of later. We are now accepting full responsibility for our own suffering and our own failure, our own pain, and we are not going to attempt to drag others down with us.
Part 5
Simon helps carry Jesus' cross. In this darkness, in this despair, there is help. God never leaves us alone. When we are smitten, stricken, and afflicted, when we have no more energy to go on, there is always enough help to guide and protect us. Simon steps in to help Jesus. If we look, we will always find friends who will help us through our difficulties. God will always provide a way out, no matter how dark the way may seem.
Part 6
Veronica wipes His face. This is a tender moment wherein we see some love and softness. Much like Simon offering to help carry Jesus' cross, Veronica is there to help in a small way to comfort Him, apply balm to His wounds, and soothe His burdens. Once again, God will not abandon us, and He tries always to provide comfort, even in times of darkness, in times of sickness, and in times of death and suffering. Whether we acknowledge it or not, God wants us to be comforted.
In the absolute abject horror of the Nazi torture concentration camps, the Jews who survived would relay this certain mystical feeling of peace that would come about them. With bodies completely emaciated, all friends and family lost, nothing facing them but torture and agony, they somehow would feel this peace of God which would pass all understanding. That is Veronica wiping our face. Even in the darkest, greatest agony, we try and present some form of health. The human mind is capable of shutting down and blocking out pain.
The human mind contains the ability to create a drug which is a thousand times more powerful than Morphine itself--endorphins. That is Veronica. We lie, unable to even carry our own cross, condemned to death, crushed, beaten and bleeding, face down in the sand, yet there is a moment of comfort.
Part 7
Jesus falls again. He tries to walk, but the burden is so great. This is significant because there are 3 times that Jesus falls, in part 3, 7 and 9. You see dying is never easy. Acceptance of failure and the transmutation of the soul, the alchemical transformation wherein failure becomes victory, is never easy. We hurt ourselves by skipping Good Friday and moving to the beautiful, sweet, flowering children singing so nicely on Easter morning. Resurrection always comes with a price, and that price is never easy. That is why Jesus falls again.
Part 8
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, and He sees them crying. He tells them simply, ladies of Jerusalem, weep not for me, weep for yourselves and your children. In the language of symbolism, this is very powerful. None of us are alone, and Jesus has gotten some help from Simon and from Veronica. Yet His pain and suffering is touching the lives of those around Him. This is something we must recognize. We do not live in a vacuum; we are not alone. Our actions touch those around us. Our personal failure in the company or on the team will affect other people.
But what Jesus tries to do is redeem others. Even in His pain and suffering, He tries to redeem them and help transform their experience, telling them not to weep for Him. "Do not focus you energies upon me," He says. My failure and my pain and my suffering are mine to bear. You must weep for yourselves and for your children. Focus upon your own lives. Take care of yourselves. If you want to cleanse my face or help balm my wounds, that is one thing. If you want to help carry my cross and be a part of my life, that is another. But, if you merely want to sit on the sidelines and weep, then do not concern yourselves with me. Concern yourselves with your own lives, because they, too, are full of great burdens, great loss and great despair.
Part 9
Jesus falls for the third and final time. I think it is religiously, symbolically significant that this happens 3 times. It is said, for example, that a drowning man will bob up above the surface of the water exactly 3 times. The final time is number 3, and after that there is no more. At this point, Jesus is completely exhausted and is at Golgotha.
Part 10
He is stripped. We will all be stripped naked. All of the crucifixes that show Jesus still on the cross lie in one very important respect. They all give Jesus a loin cloth which Jesus never had. Jesus, as He hung on that cross, was absolutely completely stark bare-ass naked. That's the only way that the Romans crucified people. But, we are so hung up on our stupid childishness, that we cannot even portray the highest holiest icon of Western civilization, Christ upon the cross. We cannot portray that as it was. We must constantly lie to ourselves and give Him these stupid little loin cloths to protect our modesty. We cannot look upon the face of truth.
Be that as it may, the 10th classical station of the cross is Jesus being stripped completely naked. In our jobs, we will be stripped of our fame and fortune; we will be stripped of our hopes and dreams. We will be stripped of all of our achievements and stand completely naked. We will be shamed and humbled.
Part 11
Jesus is nailed to the cross. At this point, Jesus' body becomes one with the cross. It becomes merged with the cross and glued to it. This is a highly symbolic, highly significant event. Wherein each of us finds ourselves completely one with our darkness, our pain, our failure, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, we own this cross. We carry it upon our shoulders and now we are merged with it. And, as long as we attempt to keep our failure outside of ourselves or apart from ourselves, ultimately we cannot rise above it. But, once we are able to accept and acknowledge all personal responsibility and become completely merged and one with that cross, only then can we begin the final stages.
Part 12
Jesus dies. We leave our marriage; we leave our job; we leave the field of play. We give up all hope, and death is the only reality. Nothing more need be said.
Part 13
His body is taken down. They remove our names from the door. The former wife changes her name. The scoreboard posts our name in the loss column. Our dead lifeless body is taken down from the cross.
Part 14
It is buried, forgotten, stuck in the ground. End of the story. We close one chapter of our lives, until finally......
Part 15
We open up a new chapter of our lives through resurrection. We find new relationships. We find new opportunities. We find new employment. There's always next season. There is resurrection. There is always new life. It never stops.
These classical stations, I think, are a gorgeous magnificent
outline of how we can best deal with failure and sorrow--how we
can deal with our own death and resurrection in the tiniest part
of our lives. This brief sketch I hope has been helpful to you.
