Spent last weekend in the wilderness… One of the most refreshing in my memory.
Since then I’ve stopped only to tumble into bed for what feels like a few fleeting hours before getting on the move again.
But each morning, when my iTunes playlist heralds the coming of day, it seems I’m back in my sleeping bag, miles from nowhere…  

And I close my eyes again, but I do not sleep. Instead, I cringe at what I can almost see through my closed eyelids:

An immaculately robed high priest, rubbing his hands as he watches Judas go.
A man in the agony of death, ignored by his sleeping friends.
A kiss, of all things.
Wrists tied hard.
Lawless judges.
Strong man’s shoulders heaving with sobs after he realized he’d done the unthinkable, and cursed his Friend.
Blood drops on Pilate’s portico.
Frenzied, frenzied rage.
Roman rulers with pale faces, and trembling hearts.
Tears running down salty on the face of the Condemned.
Parents screaming curses on their own children… (His blood be upon us…!)
Thorns.
Nails.
The King raised up to die.
His best friend (just a boy!) upholding His mother…

In the tent when I first (at random, I thought) decided to hear out all four perspectives back to back, I didn’t know what I was getting in to…
But I’ve learned why we’re counseled to spend “a thoughtful hour” daily contemplating these themes…

Sin loses its hold after you’ve watched Him die…