Station 4 - Simon Carries Jesus' Cross

photo by dbgg1979 / flickr

"Those who carry grand 
pianos 

wardrobes and coffins
to the tenth floor

the old man with a bundle
of wood hobbling beyond the horizon

the woman with a hump of nettles

the lunatic pushing her baby carriage
full of empty vodka bottles

they all will be raised up

like a seagull feather
like a dry leaf
like eggshell
scraps of newspapers

Blessed are those who carry
for they will be raised up."

 --Anna Kamienska



Jesus falls under the weight of the cross
and drag a passerby, Simon
and place the cross on his shoulder.

The man didn't intend to do that. 
He had just come to Jerusalem from the country
for the first time.

He followed the noise and the crowd
and stood there craning to see what was happening.

A man on the way to be crucified
had fallen down from the heavy cross.

A soldier grabbed this stranger's arm roughly 
and said: "You carry the cross."
He didn't intend to do that.

Yet this bit player in the drama 
was no bit player after all.

Looking back I don't know if 
you have ever been pulled into something
you had no intention of doing.

Changing a diaper, wiping away a tear, 
putting on a bandaid and whispering:
"It is gonna be all right."
Changing a bed-pan
holding a hand in the dark.
Locking the doors tight so he/she 
won't wander off. 
No wonder they call it the 36 hour day.

We've all been pulled into the drama
and carried something unlikely and heavy
for someone else.

Simon was no bit player after all.
And neither or all those folk along the 
way that lifted some load, 
that made it somehow bearable.

Looking up at this Station we know, 
don't we, that wouldn't be here today
unless someone, somewhere 
had come forward 
and shouldered our load.

Simon was no bit player. 
He was at the heart of the drama 
and so are we.

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com