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Good Friday Reflection: Simon

I have always loved to write, and for a long time I mostly wrote poetry. Good Friday always makes me think back to this poem, partly because the cute guy from Shakespeare class (who happens to now be my husband) really seemed to like it the time, and partly because Simon always fascinates me in the story of Christ's Passion. How much Simon must have wanted to become invisible, not unlike me sometimes when I feel singled out for my faith in a way that just makes me feel so exposed. I feel for Peter in his denial last night, for Simon today - the guys just like us that just did not want to have to be a part of what God had planned. I love you, God, really, but this? Seriously? I am not really down for this. How often do we say that to God, even if just in our actions? I am so guilty of this, and it is a comfort to look at these early pillars of the Church, especially Peter, and see how much he grows. It is not a man afraid of unfriendly judgement that preaches fearlessly throughout the Empire and ultimately publicly dies for the love of God. Despite how many times we have hidden, there is always a chance coming to step into the light.

That is part of what makes the Blessed Mother so inspirational a role model - she just said yes. To the shame, to the being-singled-out, to the scrutiny. I am guilty of thinking that was easy for her. Sure, she said yes, but she is the Blessed Mother. That's like her job. But at the end of the day, she was more like us than not. She was fully human, fully terrified if my own experience of a normal pregnancy is any indication, and yet fully invested in God's plan for her. But Mary is a bit of a side note today, so I will return to Simon.

Part of what I reflect on in the poem is that I imagine Simon felt the weight of Christ's suffering all the more acutely because of the little he had shared in it. Our own suffering for Christ, such as it is, helps us understand the meaning of Christ's suffering and death for us, and in turn our own need for Christ and the salvation he offers. Part of my own Lenten observances this year has included tying my specific struggles and sufferings to the sufferings of Christ on the road to the Cross. This has made me so aware of what He truly did, how much I, just like everyone else, am the reason for it, and the power of His action. I tried to be Simon a little bit - walking such a fraction of the road with Christ, reluctantly, perhaps, but changed by the experience nonetheless.

I hope that this poem helps in your own reflection on this Good Friday, and that Christ's peace will be with you throughout this Holy season.


Simon
by: J.E. McFee

how you must have imagined
the teasing later
the heckles for being the one
singled out to share the shame
how you must have looked up
and silently laid a human heart
bare before heaven
pray, why, why the hell 
did it have to be me
how your rough hands
ached with the weight as you wondered
at the strength of the back
leading you down death row
how, it lifted,
you saw the poetry
in his pain
how, when he let his throat
close with final acceptance
you stayed to watch a moment
longer than the rest
because those moments up the hill
left your handprints on the cross
and you feel yourself touching him
holding a share of his torture
your palms throbbing
as if the hammer had been raised
by your hands alone.

What is Pink Salt Riot?

Pink Salt Riot is a spin off of the indie handmade business Favoring Brave, where everything is made from old books that would otherwise be thrown away. PSR products are also made exclusively from old books, but with a decidedly Catholic spin. This blog is an extension of our handmade company, and chronicles the life and reflections of artist and designer Jill Simons.

Our online store will be growing, as well as our blog, as the summer goes on. Look forward to reflections on Catholic living, art, marriage and family, and authentic living.

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