Stations of the Cross Photoessay - 12 - Jesus dies on the cross

This piece is called the "Tree of Life". I intentionally use it as a contrast to the title of this station, "Jesus dies on the cross". Life and death, love and hate, fear and faith - distinctly opposite concepts but highly interconnected.

A favorite hymn that I sing every Good Friday at my All Saints Pasadena Episcopal Church choir is "Were you there?" The words are:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Ohhhh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Ohhhh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Ohhhh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb

It's highly emotional, highly charged. I am holding back tears every time I sing it. And yet, as Christ dies, hope lives. We may be distraught, but hope lives on. We know where the story goes and we look forward to Easter.

So I share this photo of the Tree of Life. For as Jesus died on a cross, on sweet wood or dulce lignum, we know that in his death, we will have life.

This Chihuly was at the San Francisco Legion of Honor (San Franisco, July 2003)

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