For these last few stations, I found that I had very little to say.  Sometimes tragedy is best dealt with in silence.

A line of people stood looking at a small table.  It was empty, but they’d been told that there was a television on it, and asked to describe that television.  “Use the phrase, ’it is,’ at the start of your description,” John Poole told them.  Hesitantly, people offered their phrases.  “It is black.  It is … Continue reading Fully Alive! An Improv Retreat in Chicago

My first reaction, when I sat down to pray this station before painting it, was "no, not yet!"  I felt like I'd moved towards this moment all too quickly.  Jesus is already being nailed to the cross?  Really?  But I've just begun to sit with these stations, to immerse myself in them, and my understanding … Continue reading Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

This tenth station presents a challenge to me, since I've been portraying Jesus as naked throughout this entire series, which means that the effect of seeing him stripped of his clothes is somewhat diminished.  I've been painting him naked because that's the way I feel when I enter into periods of great suffering.  Naked, exposed, … Continue reading Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

"He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light."  It's a harsh thing to say about God, but not the harshest thing in the text for the ninth station.  "He has besieged me and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. … Continue reading Jesus Falls a Third Time