Christian ritual goes contemporary

The ritual may be centuries old, but there was little liturgy involved in Friday’s public observance of the Stations of the Cross.

Instead, participants who walked past vacant lots, run-down homes and even a tavern in the West Central neighborhood grappled with real-life issues – problems such as discrimination, domestic violence and oppression – as they commemorated the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.

“Oh Christ, we adore you and we bless you,” prayed Patrick Copeland Malone, leading the crowd on a quarter-mile procession that began on West Bridge Avenue. “By the power of the Holy Cross, help us change the world.”

About 50 people from all over town – mostly Christians from various denominations – took part in the symbolic journey. Several took turns carrying a large cross made of 2-by-4s, stopping at several sites to reflect on Jesus’ suffering and its significance to contemporary life issues.

Instead of simply reading Scripture to describe what happens at each of the 14 stations, people focused on a problem or theme. At Station One, for instance, in which Jesus is condemned, Malone spoke of imprisonment and the death penalty. He asked people to pray for those who have been condemned to death, for those who are serving out their sentences and for the families and children who have a loved one in the nearby Spokane County Jail.

At Station Three, which explored the theme of loneliness, Beth Kowal instructed the crowd to close their eyes and imagine a time when they felt hopeless and abandoned. “If your body could express that loneliness, how would you move?” asked Kowal, a West Central resident. “What would that loneliness sound like?”

After several people moaned, stretched out their arms and shifted their legs, Kowal returned to the image depicted in Station Three, in which Jesus falls for the first time. “God will heal us with his love,” she said. “On this Good Friday, know that Jesus also felt that loneliness.”

Others also took an alternative approach to the traditional Stations. Ginny O’Bryen Edwards read a poem she wrote to illustrate the problem of domestic violence for Station Eight, Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.

“One two,

Kicked me with shoes

Three, four,

Thrown on the floor

Five, six,

Beaten with sticks

Seven, eight

Rape was my fate

Nine, 10,

Then it started again. …”

At Station 10, Jesus is Stripped, a woman wearing a scarf over her head and a zombie-like mask danced and swayed as she asked the crowd to consider the problem of pornography. “Stripped. Faceless. Defenseless. Dehumanized,” she said, pausing and moving her body in between each word. “Think of women and children. … Raise your hands in prayer and ask that there be a change in our society.”

The crowd following the wooden cross inevitably drew stares from passers-by and area residents who stepped out the door to check out the spectacle. Traffic whizzed by on Broadway Avenue, often muffling the poetry, prose and prayers. A few people yelled obscenities as they drove by.

Copeland Malone, who organized the Stations, wanted the gathering to be creative and spontaneous instead of the predictable ritual practiced by some churches. The actual crucifixion was likely a chaotic and frightening event, he said, much like real life today.

Many who came had never taken part in such a public observance of the Stations of the Cross. And even among those who had, some said they had never experienced one quite as visceral as Friday night’s gathering in West Central.

There were moments when she almost cried as she thought of Christ’s death on the cross, as well as instances when she felt joy at the thought of the resurrection, said Pearlie Rhodes of Christ Kitchen, a West Central-based ministry that helps women in poverty. “It gave me a better feeling and understanding of Easter,” she said.