The Third Waypoint: Simon Helps Carry the Cross
We approach the simple, round building, The Meditation Shelter, made from stones from the ground of this land. We notice the shelter, remembering the way it holds and protects us in the way that caregivers do. We notice the elders, teachers, parents among us. We remember the doctors, nurses, emergency personnel, who are serving with courage, devotion, and sacrifice in this moment. We remember too how the Earth shelters all beings, creates soil, water, air; how all Earth’s systems come together with generosity to make life possible.
ON THE ROAD TO GOLGOTHA
As the soldiers led Jesus on the road to Golgotha, they came upon a man named Simon, from Cyrene. He was walking in from the countryside. The soldiers made him shoulder the cross and carry it behind Jesus for a time. A while later, some say that a woman named Veronica ran forward to wipe the blood and sweat from the face of Jesus as he struggled on the road to Golgotha.
Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, sheltered the lost and bade his followers do so also, not because it was their duty, but because they recognized sisters and brothers in the faces before them, and in all beings in creation. We bring into our hearts all those whose calling it is to serve and be with others, especially now those serving in our hospitals, and those caring for the fallen everywhere. We remember those in ministry; parents teaching their children at home; all those seeking to encourage and strengthen others, often at great cost. We remember farmers, growing food to nourish; and all those who seek to care for the Earth.
This waypoint asks us to consider how we see those around us. Sometimes, like Simon, we are thrust into situations where we are asked to shoulder another’s burden, to help when we are disinclined to do so. Sometimes, like Veronica, we rush to lend comfort and aid. In those moments, can our hearts open and our eyes see the need of one of our kin? Can we, without judgment, reach out to pick up the heavy cross? Will we freely follow our hearts and wipe the sweat from the face of those in need? Whether or not we have been compelled or have chosen to act, can we feel the compassion, the joy, that recognizes our belonging to others in the universal family of beings?
Continue to the Fourth Waypoint (Click Here)
Filming and editing by Katie Jones Pomeroy // Online design and social media coordination by Joy Houck Bauer