Station of the Cross Seven 2023
Allie Senyard and Larisa Shaterian, Seminarians
Holy Apostles Episcopal Church, Good Friday 2023
The Stations of the Cross
The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time.
Station One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen
The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time.
Jesus breathed in.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Even with help, Jesus stumbles and falls to the ground. In deep exhaustion he stares at the earth beneath him. “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.” He has seen death before. Now he can feel the profound weakness of disability and disease and aging itself, there on his knees, under the weight of his cross.
I usually notice that I’m not breathing versus noticing that I’m breathing. So I’m a person who will hold my breath sometimes so I’ll find it to be. That’s what I notice is when I’m holding my breath or haven’t breathed in a while. I think I would say probably a few times a week I’m aware of it either because someone sighs maybe or you know takes a pause in a conversation I’ve done a lot of study around mindfulness and breathing so I’m very aware that breathing can help me moderate my stress level, can help me moderate my reaction in different situations. So I think I tend to be pretty aware of my breathing and when I find my stress level creeping up, then I know that I’m not breathing or not breathing mindfully.
Breath is one of those things that is essential to life but I think it’s also a tool that we can use to connect to the present moment and to maintain presence in stressful situations and I’ve had a number of teachers around that and so I think om me that’s the key thing with breath. It’s something so easy to take for granted and yet it’s so powerful.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Jesus breathed out.
Station One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen