Via Dolorosa

I am a bag of pain

Aches and blisters loosely woven together by frayed sinews

Every movement brings fresh agony

Go up, the heart pounds painfully

Go down, the ankle throbs worryingly

Stony ground brings twinges with each twist

Flat roads pound soreness into the soles

I am surrounded by great beauty

Majestic mountains

A chorus of birdsong

The sun’s warming rays

Vegetation reawakening after its long hibernation

Yet I see none of it

So wrapped up in my agony am I

And what lies ahead?

Day after day of the same

Crueller climbs

More dangerous descents

Weariness, perpetual weariness

And yet, when I stop at the point of collapse

And let my heartbeat slow

I catch a glimpse of the joy that surrounds me.

And in the smiles of strangers

I am reassured of the glory of God.

Which is why, at each and every roadside shrine I stop

Sing loud, giving thanks:

Joy to thee, O Queen of Heaven

Alleluia!

He whom thou wast meet to bear

Alleluia!

As he promised hath arisen

Alleluia!

Pour for us to God thy prayer

Alleluia!

And I wonder if, perhaps in my agony

I am sharing a little of what He felt this week two millennia ago

When she bent down and wiped His brow

And when he picked up and carried His cross

Is this all worth it, I wonder?

Knowing full well that I shall look back upon these days with great joy

For in the depths of hell, we are allowed a precious glimpse of heaven.

Written 02/04/2023 Badia Prataglia, Italy