Stations of the Cross

It used to be possible (before the big separation wall) to walk from Bethany (home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus) all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. I've done that with groups on previous tours. I mourn the loss of that opportunity. What a wonderful day-long adventure it was to do that walk as Jesus may have done many times. Now, instead, we walk only from the top of the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley into Jerusalem, and then all the way down the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I wasn't schooled in the tradition of praying the Stations of the Cross. But walking the streets of the Old City reminds me that the passion story of the Gospels took place in real space and time. Moreover, Jesus did invite us to "take up our cross." What might such a cryptic saying mean? Walking the ground in Jerusalem, that contested holy city, forces us to ask that question in fresh and imaginative ways. Here's a short article by Dennis Bratcher that I recommend: "The Cross as a Journey: The Stations of the Cross for Protestant Worship." CLICK HERE to read the article