Thinking Anew:THE Stations of the Cross are still popular during Lent. I am often comforted by the fact that Jesus fell three times during the way of the cross.
Every time he gets up again I am encouraged to make an effort to return to my own failed Lenten promises. I am also encouraged by the fact that, although Jesus’ falls are progressively serious, each time he tries again. The Way of the Cross was once a very popular devotion, but has fallen in a way that was unexpected.
The fourth fall came at a time when people started to behave differently. It was never envisaged the prayer would be uttered in a climate of, “If at first you don’t succeed, give up and get somebody else to do it.” Sometimes we use the word culture as if it were a set point. Culture is in fact an organic and living thing. It changes, evolves and carries a population along with it. The music, sense of dress, employment situation and spirituality of a time affects the people who live in that time profoundly and definitively.
If all our songs were dirges, our clothing rough and grey, our workplaces oppressive and our spirituality vacuous, our lives too would be empty, oppressive, rough and lamentable. Sadly, there’s a lot of truth in that description of contemporary Ireland. These days, both church and economics give us a chance to see that we all collect bad practices and could do something about them. Spiritually it is a time of great optimism. We see the brutal crucifixion as a frightening but necessary prerequisite for what we really celebrate – the resurrection. Just as Jesus struggled, fell and got up, so we too struggle, fall and can get up if we want to. But in order to get up you have to have a reason to believe it is worth the effort.
Maybe we could purge our souls of the constant call to succeed or resign.
In order to do that we first have to see whether we remember how to forgive or not. In a culture that constantly seeks to bring people down there can be no hope of restoration. Many people are branded and defined by a mistake in their past. While politicians and criminals might spring to mind, the examples of this are often much closer to home. How many families have held an in-law in contempt because of a single comment they made when they were first getting to know each other? Culturally, we have always been slow to forgive, but recently we are becoming far less likely to even consider forgiveness as an option.
Now place that against the recent talent competition where a young free-style dancer captured the imagination and hearts of a nation. For two decades we had been lived under the shadow of the technical excellence of Riverdance. The world knew the Irish as dancers, yet most of us would be embarrassed by our inability against the might of the professionals.
Suddenly a child appeared and hopped around a stage with joy emanating from every step he took. It was a powerful reminder that, although I am neither Fred Astaire nor Luciano Pavorotti, I can waddle and croak in my own beautiful way (as long as I don’t compare myself to the gentlemen mentioned). It awoke a spirit of enjoying yourself which is part of being human.
Spirit! Culturally we were always a spiritual people. It was our spirit that gave us hope in the bad times of our history and that hope made us what we are today. The message of that hope is always needed, but maybe it is needed a bit more today? God puts a far greater value on you than your last personal failure – belief in that God-given value tells you to get up and try a fourth time. Because you’re worth it. FMacE