After that was accomplished, I felt energized and went on to do some weeding. There were two 4-ft tall stalks growing along the side of the house and every morning as I look outside the kitchen window, I see them, taunting me. If I let them be, I am convinced that eventually a boy named Jack would appear and decide to climb them. So, again impulsively, I decide to hack at them, armed with the kitchen scissors. The right tools make all the difference....anyway, I encountered another type of growth which I didn't expect nor realized was present: brambles replete with thorns.
In typical fashion, I started to go after them unprepared - this time, without any gloves (those who take on projects impulsively rarely are armed appropriately) and those thorns did what they were made to do: they stopped me in my tracks. Ok, I wasn't giving up and now armed with protective gloves and the kitchen scissors, I began the pruning process. Despite wearing thorn-fighting gear and renewed caution, I found myself completely caught up in the thorns and various parts of my body being impaled on the small yet ferocious probes. I was trapped and in pain.....and as I breathed in deep breaths of shock, all I could think about, other than my stupidity, was our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Call me crazy, but thorns always lead me to think of Christ.
His Passion - from the sublime fear of the Garden Gethsemane to the brutal scourging to His Walk on the Via Dolorosa to the Crucifixion and Death - is indelibly etched in the Christian mind. It is through His Passion and His Resurrection on the third day that Jesus Christ, the Son of the God, the Lamb of God, saved those who know and love Him from sin and death. Protestants recount this upon Bible readings and at Sunday services. Catholics, in particular, remember and re-present His Sacrifice through the Mass where we are spiritually yet very concretely brought back to Cavalry to stand at the foot of the Cross. Yet, despite what is actually taking place there, we can very much lose touch or become desensitized to the gravity of what our Lord underwent to secure for us eternity with Him, His incredible charity and mercy. "This is My Body and Blood given up for you" recall His Passion and bring the Mass goers back to Golgotha. Yet, many fail to comprehend the gravity of those words - the incomprehensible Sacrifice offered by God Himself - and so much is lost. Yet, all is not lost forever if we only but remember.
As a thorn pushed its way into my thumb, the suddenness and intensity of the pain rendered me unable to breathe. Then another into my thigh. Man, I was in trouble. Fortunately, I was able to remain calm and work my way out of the sticky situation.
Once freed and recovered, I stood back and looked at the barbed wire. Thoughts came to me of the ram on Mount Moriah, caught in the brambles; the sacrifice which God had provided to Abraham in place of Isaac. That ram and Isaac, forever bound as prefigurements of the Son Who is the Lamb of Sacrifice, Jesus Christ.
The Lamb of Sacrifice, the Lamb of God - the Crown He wore was not one of gold or evergreens, but of thorns, pressed down into his skull, in mockery and cruelty. Suffering beyond comprehension. Yet, unlike me who cursed and swore and did all I could to get out of the pain, He endured silently like a sheep being led to the slaughter, He Who alone is the Holy One. He Who could call upon a legion of angels to defend Him (and, if human beings wrote this story, you know they would and kick some butt, too!), did not - no. He through Whom all things were made placed Himself in the hands of His creation, from His Conception and Birth to His Passion and Death. Imagine, that the instruments of His Death were members of His Creation! Yet, instead of cursing and condemning, He implored from the Cross, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do!" Stories of ancient nomads - oh give me a break.
Evening arrived, all of the gardening was done and I felt the stings and pangs from my interlude with the thorns. None of them were terribly deep and so would not likely scar and there is always cocoa butter just in case. In a few days, these nicks would heal and be forgotten, no longer a part of me. Yet, Jesus Glorified retains His Wounds. So real and vibrant are they that Thomas could put his hand in Jesus' side and exclaim, "My Lord and my God!" Have you ever considered that Jesus - the Son of God - is the only one in Heaven who will retain His Wounds? In His magnificent justice and mercy, He retains them so that we can know and recognize Him as the Truth; that He will eternally be the Union of Heaven and earth, of God and man. And God doesn't love us?
St. Paul tells us that we can know God through His creation. We look around and see its magnificence and words of the hymn come to mind, "Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works Thy Hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed...How great Thou Art!" Yet, there are more to St. Paul's words. Since it is through Christ that all of creation has come into being, we must see our individual life and its ups and downs in light of Him. All of creation thereby takes on a new meaning, a renewed and eternal purpose. By Jesus, the Son of God, becoming Man, He joins Heaven and Earth, God and man. With His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension (Glorified Jesus enters Heaven), we are now a new creation for He is the New Man that we are all called to be through Him. I live this new life through worship and obedience to His Will for my life and by caring for all those whom I encounter. I see my life through His Life and even the seemingly most insignificant experiences are renewed. Everything is an opportunity to encounter the Risen Christ.
Even getting caught up in thorns.
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