You are the Alpha
and the Omega.
I trust you are behind me
I trust you are ahead of me.
It's this middle thing
We call life
That I don't trust so much -
At least half of it anyway.
To my right I see
the angels and the saints
Interceding and protecting
Praying and encouraging.
To my left I see
the demons and the detractors
Interrupting and attacking
Sneering and antagonizing.
This path makes me tired.
I hurt all over.
And why not?
It did the same to You.
The Via Dolorosa
They called it.
So why shouldn't I
Keep going...
On this way of suffering?
On this way of love?
You called me on this path
After all
This very one
Or something quite like it.
So, I'll suffer the middle
Or whatever will make me closer to You!
Old Jerusalem, Via Dolorosa (street between 5th and 6th station, looking towards east). Photograph taken between 1898 and 1946 taken either by the American Colony Photo Department or its successor, the Matson Photo Service. Part of the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.