Kelly - Luke 23

Again, scriptures like this are hard to read with a fresh eye since I've heard and read them so many times over so many years....but two small references caught my eye.

The first was the story of Simon of Cyrene -the man who was "coming from the country" and taken and made to carry the cross. How strange it must have been to be taken from your own errands and made to participate in this drama. We know nothing about him. Perhaps he was coming from the country to join the crowds and weep or chant for crucifixion. Perhaps he was a follower of Christ's teachings, perhaps he just wanted to sell some produce or buy some cloth - and though he tried to avoid the crowd, he got caught up in it. Although I recognize that it was the soldiers who grabbed Simon, it made me think of the times that God tries to grab me when my mind is on other things. I must admit that I can get extreme tunnel vision. There are needs that surround me when I'm trying to get my errands done or my studying done....and if I see it, I am not very faithful in helping others to carry their crosses. I am wonderful at excuses, though. Sometimes I go with the well-used "I don't reallyknow them and I don't want to intrude" and other times with a more creative "I know them so well, they'll understand that I just can't help right now." One of my growing edges is learning and acting on the fact that there is always room for compassion.

My other observation today is that this is the second time in two chapters that Jesus has talked about the added pain that is coming to those who have small children. v. 29 "Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed." taken from Isaiah 54. While these words must certainly be taken in context - and could cause great pain to many in our society - they strike true to me in some ways. While I am most certainly a feminist, and recognize that the family dynamics of Jesus' time were vastly different from our own, and recognize that Marcus (and Jordan and Matthew) are fabulous fathers.....I stand by my belief that it's just different being mommy - it changes your identity more. And it complicates and changes my faith life. There are things that "I" would do that I would never allow "my children's mother" to do. "I" would enjoy skydiving, "their mother" will not be endangering herself until they are in college. "I" can follow Christ more easily, and if not follow to the cross, I can get closer to it on my own. "Their mother" is not so sure about leading my children down that path.