Sixth Station of the Cross: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

[The following is from a series first posted during Lent in 2015.]

< The Fifth Station of the Cross                                                                       The Seventh Station of the Cross >

Veronica steps through the crowd to wipe the face of Jesus

Homeless Jesus sculpture (Photo by Mark Rumsey)

He Died Not Too Far From Here

By Charles Kinnaird

It was my first time volunteering at the soup kitchen. A lady named Veronica handed me an apron and told me I could work with Fred. “He can show you ‘round this place,” she said.

Fred was an older man, tall and lean with closely cropped hair that was mostly gray. He said he was retired now, but before that, he did “just about everything.”

“I come down here every Saturday morning and I help ‘em set things up,” Fred told me as he handed me a washrag to wipe down the tables.  “You know, most folks will wipe down the tables after everybody gets done eatin’, but I like to wipe ‘em down before they get here, too. That way they know we’re thinkin’ about ‘em. They know they’re  comin’ to a place prepared just for them.”

“How long have you been doing this?” I asked.

“It’s been a few years now. Been more than a minute, I’ll say that. And I’ll tell you why I do this, though I don’t know how you might take it.” Fred paused and took a deep breath, “You see, I heard all my life about how Jesus died for my sins. Then I come to find out he died not too far from here – and I’ve got Veronica to thank for tellin’ me that.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I didn’t say anything. I just looked at Fred in anticipation of what he might say next. He looked at me with a side glance and wry smile, then he tilted his head back and laughed.

He then continued, “I can tell you don’t know what in the world this old man’s talkin’ about, but I’ll tell you what happened. Now you don’t know Veronica, but Veronica love to cook – that’s what she do. She cook up yonder at the schoolhouse for the kids then she comes over here on Saturday and cook for these folks that are down and out right now.

“Well, this one Saturday morning she come up here and found this man lyin’ on the sidewalk up against the wall. She told me she didn’t know if he was asleep or dead, but she called out to him.  He stirred just a little bit so she got down closer. That man was all dirty and had scratches and scabs all over his face. She didn’t know if he had fallen or if somebody beat up on him, but he was so weak and tired. She ran inside and got the preacher, ‘We got to help this man,’ she said. She grabbed a towel and a washcloth out of the charity closet, got a bowl of water and went out there to see if she could wash off his face.

“And this is the way she told it to me – she said when she knelt down to wash that man’s face, somethin’ told her this might’ve been somebody important. Now I won’t lie to you,” Fred continued, “I’d have probably said he was just some bum who’d been drinkin’ and bein’ no count all his life, but Veronica said somethin’ told her different.

“Well, Veronica and the preacher brought this man inside so they could get him somethin’ to eat and drink, but when they helped him on in, that’s when she knew he was too sick for them to do much for him. And that’s when they called 911.

“When the ambulance came, they got this man loaded up and Veronica told the preacher she had to go with him to the hospital. She told the ambulance drivers she was gonna ride up there in the ambulance, and she just hopped on in. Veronica says she still don’t know why she done it, but it was like somethin’ told her to go on with them to the hospital. And she stayed up there ‘til the doctors came around and saw the man. She told ‘em she didn’t know who he was, but she just found him out on the sidewalk by the soup kitchen. Then they told her that they were gonna get him into a room, so she came on back. She called the preacher to come pick her up so she could get on with her cookin’.

“Well, that was the first time she seen this man. The next day was Sunday and she decided she would go back up to the hospital to see how he was. She got up there and saw he was still real sick, but he just barely opened his eyes and saw her. Then he just barely smiled, and he just barely opened his mouth and spoke to her just one time. He said, ‘I remember you – you’re just like an angel to me, and I don’t know why. I feel like I’m just one of the least of these and you don’t even know me, but you come to help me out.’

“Now that’s when Veronica said it happened. She said it was when he said ‘I’m the least of these,’ it just hit her like a lightnin’ bolt. This is how she told it to me, she said, ‘I felt this electricity just come through me and it was like Jesus was sayin’ you done it do me – and all I could do was cry.’ She said she had to leave out from there because she wasn’t doing nothn’ but cryin’ and shakin’.

“So that was the second time she seen him,” Fred said, “and it turned out there would not be no third time. When she went up to the hospital the next day after work, they told her he had passed – there wasn’t really anything they could do, you know. Well Veronica – she was still kinda tearful then, but she said she was somehow feelin’ stronger inside.  It was after all that happened that she came and told me the whole story, what I told to you just now, and this is how she started it off:

Next time you hear somebody say Jesus died for your sins, you tell ‘em, No, he died not too far from here. And not only that, you tell ‘em he’s dyin’ somewhere every day, and if you look around you might see where he’s dyin’. And if you see he’s dyin’, feed him if you can, give him some medicine if you can, but if you can’t do nothin’ but wipe his face, then you just wipe his face, because Jesus is dyin’ somewhere, and he’s dyin’ not too far from here.

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Living in Troubled Times

Everywhere you turn, it seems, we are facing crises. Moreover, we see a polarized society that cannot agree upon how to go forward to address our problems. We have debated political points, economic policies, beginning of life issues, end of life issues, and the threat of climate change yet we remain in a quagmire. With the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, we are confronting a new unsettling threat on top of the many others that we have already proved ourselves to be ineffectual at addressing.

Political Challenges

We live in a time of political turmoil. Our society is more polarized than perhaps we have seen in our lifetime. Last week, David Linker wrote an opinion piece giving a dire assessment of a nation in decline. He points out how our presidential leadership has never been worse, yet the president's approval rating has never been higher.

For my part, by the midterm of Trump's presidency, what was most disheartening, even more than the president’s behaviors, rants, and actions,  was how many Americans were okay with that. When I watch political commentators and listen to some of my friends, there are many who keep hoping for a "wake-up call" and a "blue wave" in November. I can well understand that hope, but nothing that has been predicted by Trump's opponents (or by any hopeful liberals or reasonable voices) has come true.

The only bright spot for me is that, if polls are accurate, a little over half of the population claims a higher ethic and voices opposition to the appalling measures that the Trump Administration is promoting. It may not be enough to turn the tide on Election Day, but as they say, we must still try. And it is our civic responsibility, regardless of political affiliation, to remain engaged in the process and to make informed decisions in the voting booth.

Some Values Still Remain

Whatever happens politically, we must remember that there are still higher values being exhibited by humanity. When I went to the San Francisco Bay Area to go to seminary back in the late 1970s, that was the largest urban setting I had ever lived in. One of my professors, Dr. Francis DuBose, a pioneer in urban missions, told us, “In the city, you will find Man's (sic) greatest good and Man's greatest evil.” There was truth in that, and it may have helped this boy from Alabama come to appreciate the many good things that were to be found in The City.

Four years before that, as a freshman at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, I sat in my Western Civilization class and heard the professor, Dr. Leah Atkins, tell how Christians were so devastated by the collapse of Rome that Augustine wrote The City of God to reassure them that the end of Rome did not mean the end of Christianity. However one feels about Augustine or Christianity, there is a vital lesson to be learned from history. As an 18-year-old, for some reason, that information shifted my perspective and probably altered my worldview. 

I tried to put myself in those 5th century Roman's shoes: how would I feel if my country collapsed? How would it affect my faith? I made a conscious decision to make sure my faith was not oriented around the strength of my country. I nurtured an understanding that the USA could fail and we could still find a way to hold on to what is good and true. 

On the advice of St. Augustine, I purposefully untied the ropes that had lashed the two separate barges of God and Country together. In the event of the unthinkable tragedy of my country’s collapse, I saw the need to keep a sound footing on the ancient faith that I professed.

Understanding the Threat

I still tell myself all these years later that we can continue to champion what is good, even if society collapses and our institutions fail. We will likely see the best of humanity along with the worst, but that has always been true. Our current pandemic is forcing us to recognize our interconnectedness as well as the fragility of our infrastructures.

Like many of you, I have come to realize over the years that climate change is an increasing threat to our environment. I have been dismayed at our society's reluctance to address climate change and I fear that it could lead to our undoing. When I was in grade school, I saw how science alerted the public to the dangers of pollution. I saw news reports of smog in the cities and trees dying in the hills above Los Angeles. By the time I was in high school, I saw many of those effects of pollution reversed. With the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, we saw changes in industry and in automobile manufacturing that cleaned up the environment and allowed trees to grow again in the hills of southern California.

In light of that early success, it baffles me that with the increasing scientific understanding of climate change, we have not been able to bring ourselves to implement the changes needed to protect the environment. In fact, we are resistant to any change and reluctant to buy unto the warnings that science has given us.

We seem to be able to respond only when the threat becomes a catastrophe at our doorstep. Scientists tell us that we are nearing the point of irreversible damage to our environment.  It may be that our only hope is in catastrophe. Let’s hope that it is a survivable catastrophe.

We Have a Heritage of Survival

Earlier this year, at the height of Australia’s brush fire crisis, I read an article that gave me a new perspective of hope. Australian writer, Jackie French, wrote the opinion piece, “From fire evacuation rooms, Diary of a Wombatauthor pens her message to Australia,” in The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia was facing the worst fires in its history. Whole towns were devastated and animal species (including the beloved koala) faced the threat of extinction, yet French offered a surprisingly hopeful word:

This is most Australians’ first taste of climate change. But we are the descendants of those who have faced Ice Ages, plagues, wars, famine. Most humans died. Our ancestors did not. When times are hardest, humans are capable of the greatest kindness and innovation.

Think about that!  “We are the descendants of those who have faced Ice Ages, plagues, wars, famine. Most humans died. Our ancestors did not.” I find it encouraging to realize that even if I do not survive the threats we face, our species has a history of resilience and survival. My own ancestors were able to come back from the brink extinction, and that gives me some solace.

Many of us can think of survival stories even closer to home in our own family histories. Stories of getting through the war, the Depression, enduring tragedies, finding small joys in times of hardship. We all have that in our DNA.  

Hold On to What is Good

Today we face multiple challenges: medical, economic, social, political, and environmental. Though the threats are real, there is no reason to give up. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we may see our economic and political systems pushed to the brink. We may see a series of successes and failures, but we can still hold to those values that are at the core of our humanity. We can carry forward that which is good regardless of the shape that our societal structures take. Jackie French reminds us, “When times are hardest, humans are capable of the greatest kindness and innovation.”

So let's hope for the best, work like it can happen, and champion the good wherever we can find it, even if the worst happens. It's time for some furious dancing.

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The Fifth Station of the Cross: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

                                 [The following is from a series first posted during Lent in 2015.]


< The Fourth Station of the Cross                                                                                The Sixth Station of the Cross >

Soldiers force Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross

A wood engraving of handcuffed and shackled slaves passing the U.S. Capitol

According to tradition, Simon of Cyrene was a black man ordered by Roman soldiers to help Jesus carry the cross. In the United States, our own Empire was built in large part upon the backs of African slaves, forced to carry the burden inflicted by Empire. It is a blight we cannot erase, but slavery has been a common tool of Empire throughout the ages.  

Twelve American presidents owned slaves and eight of them, starting with Washington, owned slaves while in office. Almost from the very start, slaves were a common sight in the executive mansion. A list of construction workers building the White House in 1795 includes five slaves - named Tom, Peter, Ben, Harry and Daniel -- all put to work as carpenters. Other slaves worked as masons in the government quarries, cutting the stone for early government buildings, including the White House and U.S. Capitol. According to records kept by the White House Historical Association, slaves often worked seven days a week -- even in the hot and humid Washington summers. (From "Slaves Built the White House and Capitol" at Afrocentric Culture by Design)

We still struggle to overcome the inertia of slavery as we wrestle and argue over voting rights, racial profiling, and prejudicial hiring practices.

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