The sorrowful mother was standing

Stabat mater dolorosa
iuxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.

"A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father."

Let us prepare for death my brother,
by living well today and remembering -
all that we seek and say or do
endures in the hearts of those we know
and leaves for the good of the bad
a marking of our history.

The last turn on the coffin lid,
the last tear that saw the suffering,
the white shroud that covers the leadened corpse
cannot seal the open palm
nor bury a lasting love when the final rites are done.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."

If this were your final day on earth,
whom would you love and why?
How do you think your heart would beat
if the heavens were really falling
and where would you find an opened palm to hold?

You could, of course, look back and lose this preciousness
through memories, recalling ephemeral pleasures
that made you sweat and scream,
or like the common lot running wild in common desperation,
turn your back on faith and love and prayer.

Then Jesus went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus oft-times resorted thither with his disciples.

This was a night I needed you most.
No song so beautiful can sing away this reservoir
of emptiness, this vast anticipation of nothingness.
Where have you gone on this night I needed you most?
God alone does not disappoint.
I need to learn this, love only from above can
heal an open wound or release the longing to
lose myself in you,
but for now the vigil is mine.
I await the night for you.

"Art not thou also one of his disciples?"
"I am not."
"Did not I see thee in the garden with him?"
Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.

If you should die in my arms tonight or find reasons the heart
cannot tell to leave-
abandon a nurtured love that suckles like a mother’s breast,
my love would leave with you.
Since it is true that rain falls on the justand the unjust alike,
I have prepared for the storm impending,
the wind without mercy,
but this you must know above all -
my love will not cease.

And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha

Travel lightly wherever you go, my dear.
Whenever you feel the need of me come softly
with gifts of openness, come softly before the altar
of iridescent dreams and irrepressible hopes
O if it were true that love is never-ending
and death is not the foe on the last frontier-
your gift is the gift eternal and I need
never fear again the threat of hate or war or pain.

"A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father."

It was for love I lived and for love I died,
a battle more thunderous than the final nova.
Some things were lost. Much more was gained.
All that lay quiet in the coffin was transfigured.
And though the body is numb and scorned with disease,
and the sense of touch has crumbled to dust,
love knows no death or speaks no pain nor rattles
with the bones of an empty grave
but is freed in eternity.

Carl Cook - The Tranquil Lake of Love



A Good Friday 2005 afternoon stroll in 56572