Holy Week and A Song for Suffering
Last year during Holy Week, while reflecting on the suffering of Jesus, we got the news that Uncle Charlie had terminal cancer. He had been suffering for a while and it took a long time to finally get a diagnosis. As I often do when emotions are overwhelming, I wrote a song. I never shared it with him, but I played it over and over for myself in the weeks and months that followed. I thought I'd share the lyrics this Holy Week.
He Does
I can't stand,
I can't stand it,
Seeing you carry this cross,
As I trace your weary steps along the way;
I know better than demand it,
But I want you let off,
'Cause there's no way you're deserving of this pain;
What can I do?
What can I say?
Where was I when all the foundations were laid?
I don't know what it's like,
To feel the clock turn against me;
I don't know what it's like,
To see the handwriting on the wall;
I don't know what it's like,
To say goodbye to all my loves;
But I know, I know,
He does;
You're too broken and bruised,
To stagger on alone,
As we're waiting for the sky to turn to gray;
None of us would ever choose,
To take this way home,
And the tears just seem to drown me when I pray;
Who am I?
What can I be to you?
I'll just remind you of the one who'll get you through;
'Cause I don't know what it's like,
To feel the clock turn against me;
I don't know what it's like,
To see the handwriting on the wall;
I don't know what it's like,
To say goodbye to all my loves;
But I know, I know,
He does;
When I'm all out of answers,
Don't know what to do,
I will cry out to the One who's made it through;
'Cause I don't know what it's like,
To feel the clock turn against me;
I don't know what it's like,
To see the handwriting on the wall;
I don't know what it's like,
To say goodbye to all my loves;
But I know, I know,
He does, He does.
Hebrews 2:14-18 (NIV)
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Painting: Christ Carrying the Cross By Sebastiano del Piombo