Roots And there followed him a great multitude of the people) and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!'" Luke 23:27-29
Representation The wailing women are standing in line. A line, alas, of separate worlds. Icons of sorrow, they seem absorbed in their own suffering. Are they lacking a deeper sense of Christ's Way of the Cross? There is a green lining of hope traversing their figures and that of the Suffering Servant. Eventually, his message will reach their senses, but even now his knees are buckling under the weight of a cross that has never been heavier.
Identification Frequently, suffering leads to avoidance, and we make dolor our sole companion. Wrapping ourselves within an impenetrable shroud of self-pity, we retreat from life. Human hardship is always a shared experience. I need to understand its deeper meaning; only then will suffering become a harbinger of days of peace and joy.
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