As part of the Student Cross walk we carried a 35 kg cross ahead of us all along the journey. We took turns carrying it in 3s.
Trying to gather in the 'harvest' of this pilgrimage that I undertook, I was wondering what role did the cross play in this whole episode. Primarily it was I guess a re-enactment of the way of the cross Jesus was made to walk. Then there is the witness value - people watching us know what exactly are we doing and who we are. And then the whole idea of sharing in the suffering and pain of Jesus himself.
However, what nags me about the whole cross was what we did after we reached our destination! We literally abandoned it. We propped it up against the wall and then on Saturday some of our group members decorated it with flowers - that's because it was part of the tradition. So I'm asking myself, why did we carry the cross? If it was witness value, we could very well do better than that. Merely carrying the cross in that sense would be no better than a fashion show cake walk. Just to show others. But what use did others have of this 'show'?
Perhaps this inability to find the sense in the act of carrying the cross stems from a deeper question I've been asking myself: What 'use' or help has this act of mine undertaking this physically tiring journey, has been to others? Self-inflicted torture with apparently no benefit for anyone else... how meaningful and useful is that? Is this truly a Christian expression of love and sacrifice?
Well I may be too close to the event itself, to really see the whole picture, but for now I'm letting the experience of the past week just sink in.
Trying to gather in the 'harvest' of this pilgrimage that I undertook, I was wondering what role did the cross play in this whole episode. Primarily it was I guess a re-enactment of the way of the cross Jesus was made to walk. Then there is the witness value - people watching us know what exactly are we doing and who we are. And then the whole idea of sharing in the suffering and pain of Jesus himself.
However, what nags me about the whole cross was what we did after we reached our destination! We literally abandoned it. We propped it up against the wall and then on Saturday some of our group members decorated it with flowers - that's because it was part of the tradition. So I'm asking myself, why did we carry the cross? If it was witness value, we could very well do better than that. Merely carrying the cross in that sense would be no better than a fashion show cake walk. Just to show others. But what use did others have of this 'show'?
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| Linda, Melbin, Neetu, Lessly, George, David Andrea, Saju and Sijo with the decorated cross |
Well I may be too close to the event itself, to really see the whole picture, but for now I'm letting the experience of the past week just sink in.
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