why soggy cereal reminds me of the cross

Station 7 - Jesus falls a second time

I am one of those people that lets their breakfast cereal sit for awhile before I eat it. I like it soggy. I like the milk to infiltrate the squares, circles, flakes, clusters, and sticks and change their texture. I figure if I want it crunchy, I might as well eat it out of the box and drink a glass of milk as a chaser. I like to know that the milk has truly met the cereal and there is no turning back from the encounter.

Station 11 - Jesus is nailed to the cross

Station 10 - Jesus is stripped of his garments

We spent Sunday morning walking through the Way of the Cross garden at St. Joseph's Oratory with our faith community. I have done this walk many times before, but never at such a slow, meditative pace. It was a lot different than just hiking along the path, sightseeing.  We took our time. We stood and looked. We were silent. We gazed. We let the scenes affect us. We soaked up whatever each statue showed about Jesus' life. We let it sink in.  It was not a quick dip in the way of the cross that left us unchanged. The two substances (the journey of Jesus and our hearts) were given a chance to intermix, to take on each other's qualities, to become soggy oneness.

Sogginess, from which there is no turning back, takes time.  I have to sit with Jesus' life, words, and presence in order to give them time to infiltrate my tightly closed boxes, my circular thinking, my flaky selfishness, my tendency to never stray from the safe cluster, and my defensive stick-weapons.

Jesus is not a milk chaser to add to my life, hoping that he fills in the gaps but leaves everything else pretty much untouched and still crunchy.  Jesus will change my very substance. I will take on his substance. But only if I give him time.  Time to sink in.

Station 12 - Jesus dies on the cross

The photos: A few scenes from the Way of the Cross at St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal that I took on Sunday.

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outWORD by Matte Downey

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