DAY 383 Holy Saturday April 3RD 2021

Whatever the religious or spiritual journey you are on, we invite you to walk with us this Saturday before Easter.

Today, like many folks who participate in a Christian tradition, we reflect on the final moments of Jesus’ life and his passing We commemorate this time with images from The Way of the Cross — a variation on a Christian tradition that dates back to the early church.

When Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane he felt alone. Today, many of us also feel alone — alienated, divided, and isolated. As we begin our walk, we hold in the light all those who are suffering at the moment; from COVID, from acts of racism, from domestic violence, from systemic inequities and cultural trauma. The families of, and the lives lost, in the shootings in Atlanta, Georgia and Boulder, Colorado; the children starving in Yemen and other places, and for those facing hunger in our own communities. This past year we have lost too many lives to senseless acts of violence, and senseless disregard for the health and wellbeing of others. Each death diminishes us all. Let us approach the cross in solidarity with Jesus and with the victims of cruelty in our own age.

Jesus Prays in the Garden ~ Matthew 26: 36-46

Up from the corn stubble

A crow rises with the sun

On its long black wings.

~ Cliff Edwards

Jesus is Betrayed and Disowned ~ Matthew 26: 47-50, 56, 69-75

The crow flew so fast

That he left his lonely caw

Behind in the fields.

~ Gary Snyder

Jesus is Tortured ~ Matthew 27: 26-29

Ah, the crickets

Are screaming

At the moon.

~ Jack Kerouac

Jesus Carries His Cross ~ John 19:17

In this world of ours

As we cross the roof of hell

Let’s search for flowers.

~ Issa

Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene ~ Mark 15:21-22

The dirty gardener

Is showered with plum petals

While he meditates.

~ Starcross

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross ~ Matthew 27:33-37

On the gnarled old tree

A profusion of blossoms

And delicate leaves.

~ Starcross

Jesus Hangs on the Cross ~ Mark 15:27- 34

One wet yellow leaf

Sticks to a long ragged vine

And dries in the breeze.

~ Cliff Edwards

Jesus Dies ~ Mark 15:37-41

The bee draws nectar

From a dead apple blossom

Taking what’s given.

~ Starcross

The Way of Pain

1.

For parents, the only way

is hard. We who give life

give pain. There is no help.

Yet we who give pain

give love; by pain we learn

the extremity of love.

2.

I read of Abraham’s sacrifice

the Voice required of him,

so that he led to the altar

and the knife his only son.

The beloved life was spared

that time, but not the pain.

It was the pain that was required.

3.

I read of Christ crucified,

the only begotten Son

sacrificed to flesh and time

and all our woe. He died

and rose, but who does not tremble

for his pain, his loneliness,

and the darkness of the sixth hour?

Unless we grieve like Mary

at His grace, giving Him up

as lost, no Easter morning comes.

4.

And then I slept, and dreamed

the life of my only son

was required of me, and I

must bring him to the edge

of pain, not knowing why.

I woke, and yet that pain

was true. It brought his life

to the full in me. I bore him

suffering, with love like the sun,

too bright, unsparing, whole.

- Wendell Berry

It Is Well with My Soul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kWRYsBt_XQ

Kari Jobe - Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq59iE3MhXM

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi "Stabat Mater"(1736)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHQVtYzjLao

Hildegard von Bingen - Canticles Of Ecstasy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei88J4lERbk