March 4th is one of my favorite days because it rhymes with "march forth." Marching forth is exactly what Christ wants us to do despite the burdens we carry just as He had marched forth with a heavy wooden cross to Golgotha where He was crucified. Not so coincidentally, the center statue representing Christ the Redeemer at the top of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican shows a figure in motion carrying a cross that towers over him, with his right finger pointing forward and his left foot stepping ahead of his right.
I spent hours looking at those statues decades ago and to this day, I still think that the sculptor was divinely inspired. The statue representing Jesus is the only one in motion. The cross he is carrying is the biggest and the tallest, taller than any of the statues. When I was looking at it, I saw in my mind Jesus. He was the only one Who was not just standing around like the rest. He was on the move. He was determined to go forward carrying the weight of sins and the burden of hardships. He sought no pity and waited around for no one; He hoped not for a hand but rather gave others a hand [1]. He was strong. He was a leader. With His finger pointing forward, His one foot ahead of His other, He gave confidence to all to follow, to march forth with Him fearlessly. I love Him.
[1] My original sentence was: "He hoped not for a hand or a hand-out." It has been bothering me for days so I deleted it and rewrote it. A hand-out was not part of my consciousness let alone the thought of Jesus hoping for one, especially from a government. It was not until Barack Obama became president that the "notion of a government hand-out" was burnished into my consciousness and at my fingertips. For these reasons I had put it in. Leaving it in would not have been a proper recount of my thoughts. Wednesday, March 7, 2012, 5:15 a.m.
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