April 14 - ¿Qué haría Jesús?

April 14, 2017 Good Friday

Woke up very early after a lot of dreaming, Head full of Good Friday. And a theological question.

¿Qué haría Jesús? - What would Jesus do?
...  if no one would pick up the hammer and nails, and said, “Not going to do it.” and no one else would. ¿Qué haría Jesús?

The “Spearer” refused the order and said, “Not me.” and no one else would either. ¿Qué haría Jesús?

What if no one would have obeyed the command that Friday. And it has to be done! ¿Qué haría Jesús? - What would Jesus do?

Would you do it? Someone you know do it? Think I would? Of course someone would do it, someone sick, crazy, angry enough. But what if on that day no one would? What would that act of disobedience mean? I can't imagine anyone I know doing such a barbaric act. That's a compliment to you, the reader. Those are the ramblings of my mind for what ever they are worth this morning.

Outside there's noise, The neighbors are creating street pictures (alfombras) depicting the 12 stations f the cross. An artist draws the design on the pavement with chalk and then the people, old, young, boys and girls start filling in the pictures with colored salt. Some very colorful and others a little more somber.

Lots of conversation and supervising from those standing by offering advice.

I'm told the pictures take about 1 ½ hours to create and that about 10:00, from the church several blocks away, the Via Crucis begins.

Sorry no pictures of the peregrination. My card reader destroyed them while I was down loading them to my computer.  I'm lucky to have the three showing in this blog.

At the head of the procession are the clergy waving incensors, then some teen-aged boys in the role of Jesus, the guards and soldiers, all in appropriate dress. There is a girl dressed all in white who is standing close to Jesus and two figures all dressed in a somber black which on this hot day seems really punishing. Rounding out the procession are neighbors and onlookers who follow the route from station to station.

At each of the stations there is a shrine with flowers and a picture. The group stops and the story is re-enacted for the onlookers. The priests speak and there is some music. 

At the conclusion the group moves on with music while the guards continue whipping Jesus, I thought a bit vigorously. When his shirt was removed at the 10^th station red welts were visible.

The first station and the last two stations were accompanied by Ennio Marricone's, “Gabriel's Oboe” which I didn't recognize the first time, perhaps due to my attention on other things. But the last two times, the scenes and actions accompanied by the music brought tears to my eyes.

Check out "Gabriel's Oboe" on YouTube and treat yourself to one of the rarest of all human talents, the ability to create a melody of overwhelming beauty.

The procession walks on, through the alfombras which seemed disrespectful to the artistry and labor, although interestingly, I noticed that some of the pictures appeared recognizable the next day.

Ate some street vended ice cream in a cone with my fingers crossed. More on the conclusion tomorrow so stay tuned.

Planning to visit some friends tomorrow (Sunday) morning and then take 303 bus to Berlin. I'll really be glad when this next part of the trip is behind me.

Sorry about the pictures,  Warren