A young girls sits at her desk listening to her teacher. The sun hot upon her shoulders as the sun peeks through the mini blinds adorning the window. The student next to her will not stop tapping his show upon the floor; the nuisance of the sound begins to drive the tough girl mad. The clock ticks away yet not feverishly enough and the young girl finds herself daydreaming about what she will do at the end of the day. The teacher still talks, she drones on about some type of Stations, "Mom is going to ask me what I did today, STATIONS, I must remember stations".
That night, as anticipated, mom asked the girl what she learned in school as the family sat around the dinner table. "Stations, mom, we learned about stations". The young girl, proud of her answer, looked over at her brother with a smirk, normally she was getting yelled at for not paying attention in school but this time, this time she had an answer and a good one at that. Mom noticed the grin on her daughter's face and decided to take the questioning one step further, "Really, stations? Wow that is exciting! What kind of stations did you learn about?", mother asked with the grin as her daughter fumbled for words.
"Ahh, well Station three, yeah we learned about station three."
The brother thought this a great time to chime in and instigate the situation, "Station three, really, wow, I thought you were too young to learn about that, what with it being so dirty and all!"
"Listen I am old enough to learn about stations, I am in second grade! I know a lot about trains, why shouldn't I know about where they put the trains at night. And they are not dirty, they have people who clean them!"
"That is enough you two, stop teasing your sister."
"Stop teasing me!"
"As for you, young lady, you are right, you are old enough to pay attention in class. Stations are not places which house trains my dear. Stations of the Cross are an important reminder of Jesus' love for us. Now I want you to go into school tomorrow and pay attention, try listening with your heart."
With that dinner was over and the night rituals began. As the young girl lay in her bed she thought about what her mother had said at the dinner table; "listen with my heart...she is crazy, my heart doesn't have ears, how am I suppose to listen with my heart? Whatever I am tired". An she rolled over, hugged her teddy bear and fell fast asleep.
The intense rain hitting the window woke the young girl and a fight ensued in the morning as the girl was tired from being awoken at such an early hour. As the girl prepared for school she once again began to day dream for Easter break was coming soon and she wondered what, exactly, the Easter Bunny would bring her.
"Get downstairs and eat your breakfast, we are running late. Did you hear me? Young lady, are you day dreaming again?"
"Huh?! Oh, ahh no, mom, just getting ready."
With that the girl walked down the stairs and, entering the kitchen, began to eat her cereal while her brother made faces at her.
"Stop or I am telling mom."
"Go ahead, miss train station..."
"Stop that, how was I suppose to know what a Station was?"
"Because..."
Mom came down and interrupted the fight.
"You two need to stop this bickering! All you do is fight, can't you just be nice to each other once in a while?"
In unision..."He/she started."
"Enough, we will finish breakfast in silence."
When they were finished they made their final preparations for school and off they went. Just before the girl exited the car, mom reminded her to pay attention no listen with her heart. Unenthused, she nodded and shut the door behind her.
The morning bell rang and as it did, the rain beep at hard against the window pane.
"I guess we will be inside for recess. I hate indoor recess, the girl thought, we have to sit at our desks, we can't run, ugh, why did it have to rain?"
"Ok, boys and girls, we are going to continue our conversation about the Stations of the Cross..."
"Stations of the Cross, I guess yesterday I missed that last word. Ok listen with my heart. Mom is surely crazy but whatever, I will listen with my heart... Ok, this is boring."
The rain still hitting the window hard but with such consistency that it began to lull the girl into a day dream. But this was no ordinary day dream. She found herself lost among a large crowd, people were yelling, cheering really for a man sitting on a donkey.
"Oh a parade, she thought, I love parades, let me get closer."
She made her way to the front of the crowd so she could see what was happening. People were laying down tree leaves for a man to walk over. Everyone is cheering for this man, "he must be important of something, maybe he is the mayor or sow thing", she thought.
The people began to get louder and the girl weary from being alone and not recognizing a single person. She started to cry, "Where is my mom or dad? Where am I? I just want to go home."
No one even seemed to notice the girl let alone care that she was upset; everyone except one man, the man on the donkey. He noticed the girl and stopped. He walked over to her and said to her, "Why are you sad, my dear?"
"I am lost and want to go home." Tears streamed down her face.
He put his hands on her shoulders and said, "look at me, look into my eyes and you will know your home. You will feel the love of the Father. Worry not, my dear young lady, you are home, right here."
She look into his eyes and immediately she felt at ease, she felt peace. The "parade" continued but her tears wipe away by a perfect stranger though she felt so close to him.
The rain still beating upon the window, the teacher still babbling one about something, the girl returned to her day dreaming. Again she found herself among a crowd of people. They were again cheering but the feeling of this crowd was different, it was like when she had going to a Phillies game and the Phillies were losing, the crowd was angry and yelled unkind words. This crowd, too, was yelling unkind words. They began to chant something, "crucify him, crucify him", but she did not know what that meant. Everyone was looking toward a square, "I must make my way to the center so that I can see what is going on." And so she did but when she had gotten there, she wished she hadn't fought for that position. What she saw horrified her. She saw a man tied to a poll and being whipped by some guy in a funny outfit. "What are they doing? Why is that man so bloody? I don't like this, I want to so home." The day dream now turning into a day terror. And so it continued. They finally stopped hitting the man tied to the poll and now they were placing something on his head. "Aww, nice they are giving him a crown to say they were sorry, it is important to apologize when you have done something wrong", she thought. But this was not a crown offering forgiveness, blood started to trickle down the temple of the man.
"Ewww, I don't want to see this, I want to go home."
With her last statement, the man being beaten looked up and made eye contact with the girl. Immediately she recognized him as the man who, only moments, earlier, had brought her such peace, such love. Yes, this was the man, she recognized his eyes, they were and are filled with compassion and love, even though he is being beaten. It was as if the man was talking to her, she could hear, "You are okay, my dear, you are safe, this crowd will not harm you. You know my Father's love, you are safe, you are loved. "
The girl looked around expecting to see someone behind her talking to her for the voice she heard was loud. She looked back at the man and the voice again heard.
"My dear, it is me. I know you worry, you are scared for this crowd is large and you but a small young lady. Fear not, I am always with you. All you need do is stop me feel my presence."
The man was grabbed by a guy in a funny hat and the crowd went while, just like when Chase Utley hit a home run; only this crowd was mean, Chase must have been playing in Boston.
Another parade began but this time, the man was carrying a huge, wooden cross. She knew about crosses, she had to draw one for religion class the other day.
"What, what is going on here? Why are people yelling at this man? He is so nice. Can't they see how nice he is? Why are they screaming at him and saying mean things to him? Why does the guy keep hitting him, he is carrying that big cross, don't they know it is heavy?"
Thoughts plagued her mind as the crowd continued to be rowdy and get more mad at this nice guy. She walked with the crowd. "Aww, the man fell, I hope he can get back up."
The crowd cheering loudly when he fell, they were happy that this man struggled. The girl could feel heaviness, she could feel sorrow; yet she was not afraid to be there alone. Somehow, some way she felt as though she wasn't alone, she knew she was safe. The man continued to walk, the dirt from the road was sticking to his body and not the dirt stained red from his blood. People continued to scream and yell mean things at the man and the guy with the funny hat continued to hit the man with some sort of whip. Each time the man swung the whip it made a snapping noise and more blood poured forth from the man. She didn't like that sound and cringed with each crack of the whip. A woman stopped the procession, "It must have been his mom, she thought for he looked at her with such love, love only a mommy can give." But quickly she was pushed away back into the crowd. The crowd was so mean and this man never fought back, never did he say anything unkind. His eyes spoke something very different they said that he loved the people in the crowd though they yell and mock him. The girl was so very confused but followed along with the crowd. The man again fell. "Why don't they help him up? Why do they watch him struggle? That cross has to be heavy. Why don't they just help him?"
She no sooner thought about him having help when they pulled a man from the crowd and made him carry the cross for the guy.
"Well, that is at least better, he needed some help."
But the help was short lived and the man, once again, carrying his cross alone. She again made eye contact with the man and, once again, she felt nothing but peace and love.
The man fell again, "he is really tired. Can't they let him rest?"
The parade continued up a hill where the man finally handed his cross over to the guy in the funny hat. "Good, she thought, it is all over."
But she was wrong, it was only just beginning. They took the man and laid him on top of the large cross then the one man got what looked like the thing Jerry was always hitting Tom with in the old cartoons of Tom and Jerry. He began to hit something and the metal echoed among, the now quiet, crowd. Bang, bang, bang...with each sound blood poured onto the man with the mallet. One arm, then the next and finally, the ankles. "How can this man not be screaming? Doesn't that hurt? Why are they doing this? Why are they hurting this man?"
With the last swing of the mallet the guy in the funny hat stood and the crowd cheered. Several men in funny hats hoisted up the man on the cross so that all people could see what they had done. Again the crowd cheered. But the girl began to cry. Just looking at the man hanging there, the pain he must be endure, this after his long parade walk. Tears streamed down her face. She looked at the man, she could not see his eyes from all the blood. But she could feel something, she felt loved, she felt peace. "How, she wondered? Could she feel such peace, such love among all of this hatred?" And tears continued to roll down her cheeks.
"Sweetie, are you okay?", a familiar voice called to her. It was her teacher, she was again back in her classroom, the rain beating against the window. "What is the matter, my dear? Why are you crying?"
"Oh, I am okay", she stuttered as she looked her teacher in the eyes. Similar compassionate feeling but nothing so intense as the compassion and love felt by man in her daydream. "Time for recess and snack, my friends." So the children readied themselves to eat and talk. Some of her friends began to ridicule her for crying when the teacher was talking about the Stations of the Cross, "What, can't you handle a little blood? Afraid of the mean soldiers, are we? I thought you were tough. You are nothing more than a big baby!"
At first we was going to lash out at them and give them a piece of her mind but then she thought about her recent experience, for she felt as though she actually experienced the events. She sat quietly and looked at her religion book while everyone else talked and carried one. Each aspect of her experience was a different Station of the Cross, well, except the first that was Palm Sunday. "Wow, I guess you heart can listen, my heart does have ears!"
School continued and when it was time to depart from school, she asked the teacher if she could take her religion book home with her. The teacher agreed and she left the classroom and got into the backseat of her mother's car. Normally, mom had to pull teeth to get information about the girl's day but today was different, she got into the car and said, "guess what? We learned about The Stations of the Cross today. We talked about all the things the Jesus had to go through just to show us how much He loves us. You know, He really loves us, I mean really loves us and He is always with us. The people in His time were really mean to him, the yelled mean thing at him, but He never yelled back. But they continued to hurt him anyway. And then they nailed Him to this huge wooden cross and the guys in the funny hats were covered in Jesus' blood. I think Jesus really loves me, Mommy, He really does."
Mom had tears in her eyes as her daughter was speaking with such intense belief.
"I was there, Mommy, I saw everything happen. Jesus looked at me and He told me everything was fine, He told me He loved me, Mommy. And I believed Him, I could feel His love. It was cool, Mommy."
Her mom started crying even more as the girl said, "I learned something today, Mommy. I was crying when Jesus died on the cross, I couldn't help it it was so sad. To see Him hang there bloodied, all this after walking with the cross for so long, it was sad. And the people, mommy, they were cheering when he died, well all except a small group of people. So I cried, mommy. I mean I know Jesus was safe with the Father and that he was no longer in pain, so I shouldn't have been sad. I think, though, they were tears of love. I can cry because of love right?" Mom nodded. "Well, I think they were tears of love then, because I felt love when I looked at the cross, Mommy, I felt so wrapped in love and so not alone. But then we had recess and some of the kids called me a baby for crying. At first I wanted to punch them but then I remembered the mean crowd as Jesus walked along the dirt path. They yelled mean things at Him and all He gave them in return was love. So I chose not to hit them, Mommy. Actually I ignored them and read my religion book. Can we read the story of the Passion, see the Stations of the Cross are a brief meditation of the Passion of Christ. So, can we read the Passion together tonight?"
The mom was so overwhelmed she could nearly respond with yes, though she wanted to jump and do cartwheels with an emphatic yes please.
Dinner was peaceful, no one fought and everyone talked about how they felt about the Passion of Christ, about how much they felt Jesus loved them. Night quickly approached and the girl made herself ready for bed. Mom came into tuck the young girl in, after her preaches, mom kissed the girl on the forehead and said, "I love you."
"I love you too, Mommy. Know what else I learned today? My heart really does have ears, I can hear God talk to me. He has told me like ten times today that He loves me. I think He probably told me more but I was day dreaming so I will try to listen harder. I love you, mommy, Good night."
The mom turned off the light as tears ran down her cheeks, "Thank you God, thank you!"
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