It was a strange experience, Christians and Jews making the Way of the Cross, through the narrow streets of the old city, surrounded by strike-shuttered shops and the crush of the crowds. The triumphant good news of God's cruciform love has too often meant bad news and persecution, a via dolorosa (way of sorrows) for Jews. It was my task to make the prayers at each of the stations of the cross along the Via Dolorosa . . .

In a land where ayatollahs of every sectarian persuasion are prominent, we make our way slowly up the steep hill beyond Herod's gate. Shouting, commerce and evidence of conflict surround the path Jesus took to Golgotha. The Way of the Cross is an earthy spirituality; the embrace of God in Christ of all that is human. . .

Those are excerpts from A Gathering of Outcasts a series of Lenten meditations written by former campus pastor Stephen Paul Bouman for use by college students in 1990. I happened to get it out a month ago to browse through it, and I was touched by the reality of its description. When I was in Jerusalem on my sabbatical ten years ago, I had a very similar experience of Jesus "Way of Sorrows." Every Friday around noon in the old city of Jerusalem there is a procession from Steven's Gate through what is called the "Via Dolorosa" today, all the way to the Church of the Sepulcher

Of course we don't know the original route. The original route, even if we could identify it probably lies some 20 or so feet beneath today's street level. You can see a small portion of it in the basement of the Church of the Sisters of Zion, where a Roman street with rutted chariot tracks still witnesses to Rome's presence. But we're not quite sure how the street wound its way to Golgotha. Today the Franciscans gather at Steven's Gate and those who want to join in to mark Jesus' torturous road to Golgotha, process behind. But no special allowances are made. No police escort clears the way. The vendors are not closed for holiday,now that the Arab strikes are over. Jerusalem T-shirts flap outside the shops. Industrious merchants compete for your attention. "Buy here, It's cheaper." As the Franciscans pass by following a rough hewn cross, the Jewish world, the Muslem world, even the Christian world continues on with its usual work.

The songs of the pilgrims are joined with the blare of the Muslem call to worship and the song of children playing on the side streets. Arab and Greek and Israeli hawkers add their special sound to the multi-cultured mix. "Won't you buy?" It is into such a world that Holy Week and Good Friday descend. Should we really expect anything else. 2000 years ago the world went on as Jesus passed by. At the beginning of this third millennium the world still goes on its way. Perhaps the only significant question is, "Will you also pass by?"

Join us for the events of Holy Week. The world will not stop. Life goes on. But perhaps you and I can stop, and perhaps for you and me life will be changed. Come join us on the Via Dolorosa this Holy Week. Steven Paul Bouman, who is now the Bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod, wrote, Follow the Via Dolorosa, follow Jesus bearing the cross as the path winds through the human hope and hurt of your part of Jerusalem.

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