CHAPELS OF THE SACRED PASSION | STATION XII: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

COMPILATION...a certain kind of conclusion...

WHEN WE EMBARK ON SOMETHING SO ABOVE AND BEYOND US, WE NEVER EXPECT THE HORIZON TO BREAK UPON THE DISTANT SANDS AHEAD. YET, SURELY – SURELY! – THE WORK OF OUR HANDS, THIS WORK OF MY HANDS, MUST AND HAS REACHED A CERTAIN KIND OF CONCLUSION, AND AS I BEGIN TO FORM THE WORDS THAT YOU ARE READING AT THIS HOUR, I THINK OF ST. PAUL:

“...BECAUSE OF YOUR PARTNERSHIP IN THE GOSPEL FROM THE FIRST DAY UNTIL NOW. AND I AM SURE OF THIS, THAT HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL BRING IT TO COMPLETION AT THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. IT IS RIGHT FOR ME TO FEEL THIS WAY ABOUT YOU ALL, BECAUSE I HOLD YOU IN MY HEART, FOR YOU ARE ALL PARTAKERS WITH ME OF GRACE, BOTH IN MY IMPRISONMENT AND IN THE DEFENSE AND CONFIRMATION OF THE GOSPEL.”

AS THE EVENING COMES AND THE SHADOWS LENGTHEN, THIS ‘GOOD WORK’ LAID OUT BEFORE ME, FOR MY, AND YOUR, SAKE, FINDS ITS CONCLUSION IN THE TRUTH THAT WHAT JESUS OFFERS IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THE WORLD GIVES OR DEFINES. THE INVESTIGATED PROJECT PROPOSAL IS NOTHING; TRULY, IT IS NOT UNLIKE WEATHERED RAGS, IF NOT FOR JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION. THE PROJECT IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A BYPRODUCT OF GRACE, NOT THE JOY OF SUCCESS IN CHRIST’S HEART. IT IS THIS BEAUTY THAT FORMS MY CONCLUSION. IT IS THIS BEAUTY THAT SAVES, TETELESTAI.

FROM THE BEGINNING, THIS THESIS HAS AND WILL FOREVER CONTINUE TO BE AN ESSAY ON THE INSCRUTABLE LOVE OF OUR INCARNATE, CRUCIFIED, AND RISEN LORD AND THE BONDAGE BETWEEN HIS SACRIFICIAL MERCY AND THE CREATIVE VIRTUE OF THE CREATURE – THE CONSUMMATION AND FRUITION OF BEAUTY.