55 - The Way of the Cross Leads Home

The Way of the Cross Leads Home
By Annie Mae Martin

In the wee hours of the morning, as I lay gazing into darkness, I asked why God allows Mother to suffer so. God answered by bringing this thought to my mind: "The way of the cross leads home."

Later that morning, when I arrived at the hospital, sitting in Mother's room, the Spirit revealed to me the answer, and I took pen and paper and began to write.

As I looked on Mother, I thought of Jesus being nailed to the Cross. Her finger tips, pierced so often for blood specimens, reminded me of his nailed, scarred hands. The oxygen mask, tightly covering her face, reminded me of the crown of thorns. As Mother moaned and groaned with pain, I could hear Jesus say: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" I was reminded of the bitter drink that was given Jesus as Mother turned her head away and held her lips closed, refusing to eat, as medicine from the I.V. dripped slowly into her veins.

As the suction tube was forced into Mother to expel the fluid, I was reminded of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, being pierced in the side. Then the woman in the next bed said to me: "Your minister prayed for me last night," and I could hear the thief that was nailed beside him say: "Remember me."

Jesus came to lay a foundation for us, and we must follow in his foot-steps from the beginning to the end. Jesus said: "It is finished," and he gave up the ghost.

The way of the cross leads home. Amen.

Annie Mae Martin lives in Asheville, North Carolina. Her mother, of whom she writes so tenderly and movingly, worked for the family of Mrs. Mary Westall Large. Mary Large now lives in Flemington, New Jersey. She is a Presbyterian elder and has taken courses at Princeton Seminary. In sending this personal meditation to us, she notes that Annie Mae's mother was "the most Christ-like person I have ever known." Shortly after she wrote this reflection, Mrs. Martin confided to Mary that her "beloved Mother experienced the way of the cross and finally went home."