WHAT HAS TO BE CARRIED BY ME, MUST BE DONE ONLY BY ME
Pic.: Rajiv Sharma
This is
Lent. The last days of Jesus Christ’s life... They are packed with His human
experiences... his fear, anxiety, pain, suffering, humiliation... and, then,
the passion, prayer, faith, courage and mighty resolve... As a Christ’s
follower, this part of His life leaves me shaken, humbled, inspired and, yes,
confident.
As a Christian, I am, also, taught, that Christ had come on
earth, taking His human form, to save the mankind... save me. So, we call Him
the Salvador ...
the Savior.
However, faith of my religion aside, I seriously feel,
Jesus Christ should not have come to save us, the sinners. God, Jesus’ Father,
had shown no mercy when Adam and Eve had sinned. He had thrown them out of the Eden Garden
I ask God, “Why did You send, then, Your own Son to bail us
out from our sins?”
But, I know how small I am to ask God this question!
When
Christ himself was in great distress, when he lost all His strength and felt
the fear in his soul, he knelt down in the Gethsemane Garden, all alone, and
prayed to His Father: “Father,
if it is Your will, take this cup [of suffering] away from me. However, Your
will must be done, not mine."
Even Jesus Christ, the savior of mankind, had been on His
knees when in distress... Therefore, I believe, we all have to follow Him... We
all have to be on our knees, in times of our distress, and pray to our savior: “Lord,
if it is Your will, please do away this test from me; but, Your will must be done,
not mine!”
I think, there is hope of salvation for me only when I
yearn to be saved. Not otherwise.
So, what
am I supposed to do in Lent?
Each one, here on this earth, is expected to carry his own
cross. Expecting Jesus Christ to carry mine is expecting too much from God. It
is sacrilege!
I have never liked the idea of rescuing someone when he is
not willing to be rescued. We need to help those who need help... who are humble,
yearning and grateful... It can be, truly, a spiritual experience whenever we
step forward to carry someone-else’s cross for a little distance... just as it
was for Simon of Cyrene, who had carried Jesus’ cross for a short journey
through Calvary . But, then, no one bailed out
Jesus, not even his own Father...
What Christ had to carry, only he had to!
Somehow, this message is too painful for us to accept.
Because, most of us are hooked on to the idea of ‘the Savior will come’... The
White Knight... The Florence
of Nightingale... Yes, to save us, to bail us out!
The Lent, for me, is the time to seek strength and not to lose
it by ‘clinging’ to my Lord... It is the time to go on my knees, yet again, and
thank Him for doing more than enough for me, already... and to believe, from
His own example, in the truth, that, what has to be carried by me, must be done
only by me!
The Lent... The grace time!
GEALD D’CUNHA
Comments
--- Ratan Shetty