Kirkepiscatoid

(Deposition, detail, Rogier Van der Weyden, c1435, from The Edge of the Enclosure)

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 



At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"



When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down."
 


Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
 


And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 



Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

Mark 15:33-39

“The tumor has metastasized to my brain,” she posted. “Tell me who I am to you, in case I can no longer remember it.”

Merciful God, I’ve never met her. But I feel like I know her through her blog and through social networking. I can’t even remember if she showed up on my blog first, or whether she showed up on mine. I know she loves and trusts you, God. Help her to feel your presence.

This “virtual person,” God, is as real to me as real can be…she is 30 years old…and she is dying. Oh, not right this minute, mind you. But barring a miracle, she will not come down from that cross upon which she has been placed.

Friend, I will tell you who you are. You are a real presence in my life, albeit a real presence I have never physically met. I do not share much of your past. But I have traveled part of the spiritual journey you have openly shared on the Internet with many of us, and I will, God willing, travel with you until you can no longer type. I will share as much of your future with you as I am allowed. I will stay at the foot of your cross with you.

Dearest God, as I think about my relationship with this dying woman, I realize it is the same relationship I have with your Son—a very real presence I’ve never physically met. Teach me the beauty of his presence through her presence. Amen.