"Below My Feet" Easter Walk Stations

 You can see I just needed time for one more walk through and I'd have bunched the props more closely but some turned up too close to time... there's a reason I was keen to have them 30mins early!!

Some of the images that appeared at Stations

STATION ONE: "WAITING"

INTRODUCTORY WORDS WELCOME TO THIS EASTER WALK

We acknowledge the Wonnarua people & their connection to the land on which we gather:

 

TODAY this Walk is different and involves a journey through [6] STATIONS.

STATIONS are places where people wait while they are going from one place to another. People wait at bus stops, train stations and airports.

Think of some stations where you have been?

Stations are also places where people take time to think about Jesus and his journey to the cross. They remind us how much compassion and love Jesus has for all humanity

AND they invite us to place our story alongside the story…

READER ONE:
WAITING,

39 Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, as he often did, and his disciples went with him. 40 When they got there, he told them, “Pray that you won’t be tested.”

41 Jesus walked on a little way before he knelt down and prayed, [waiting]…

42 “Father, if you will, please don’t make me suffer by having me drink from this cup.

But do what you want, and not what I want.”

43 Then an angel from heaven came to help him. 44 Jesus was in great pain and prayed so sincerely that his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood.

45 Jesus got up from praying and went over to his disciples. They were asleep and worn out from being so sad. 46 He said to them, “Why are you asleep? Wake up and pray that you won’t be tested.”

47 While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd came up.

It was led by Judas, one of the twelve apostles.

He went over to Jesus and greeted him with a kiss.

48 Jesus asked Judas, “Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

After a scuffle and a disturbance…

52 Jesus spoke to the chief priests, the temple police, and the leaders who had come to arrest him. He said, “Why do you come out with swords and clubs and treat me like a criminal? 53 I was with you every day in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But this is your time, and darkness is in control.”

LEADER:

Waiting for rain, waiting for news, waiting for the worry or pain to end,

waiting to see what God is doing…

As we move from this station, reach in and take a strip of paper,

That you can take with you to be reminded about waiting…

STATION TWO: "TRUTH" "Below My Feet" Mumford & Sons playing on loop

TRUTH IS HARD WORK,

Truth is hard work… honest answers to life’s questions,

Knowing that we have to live each day in relationships, community and the environment.

Farms, mines, transport, retail, education, community, faith…

We live in a varied and sometimes harsh country,

But that doesn’t mean we need to have hard attitudes.

Compassion rings true, grace rings true, humility rings true,

Trampling everyone else to get what we want is hollow,

Holding power over or bullying others is destructive and unfair…

READER TWO:      John 18

33 Pilate then went back inside. He called Jesus over and asked,

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own or did someone tell you about me?”

35 “You know I’m not a Jew!” Pilate said.

“Your own people and the chief priests brought you to me. What have you done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom doesn’t belong to this world. If it did, my followers would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders.

No, my kingdom doesn’t belong to this world.”

37 “So you are a king,” Pilate replied.

“You are saying that I am a king,” Jesus told him.

“I was born into this world to tell about the truth.

And everyone who belongs to the truth knows my voice.”

38 Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

Later, in John 19,

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

LEADER:

A crowd occupying Jerusalem a week earlier, turned.

Voices were raised in fear and self interest or even ignorance,

Hope only offers when justice is coming and this was a hopeless situation…

We spend a few moments here, thinking and praying silently,

For people we know, for our community, for truth tellers and companions on the road

STATION THREE: "ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE" Box of Photos to take/pray for

“Another world is possible,” was the catch cry of “Occupy Wall St” that went worldwide…

It’s not a slogan from the usual suspects,

It’s a hope for different values, for fairness and consideration...

It’s as ordinary as the hope that the sun will shine,

Or the bank will have money in your account when you go to get it out…

Sometimes we choose to serve others, sometimes we don’t get to choose…

READER THREE:     Luke 23: 26-27

²⁶As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.

[People deeply in shock and grieving the loss of hope and the violence]

Who was Simon?

What was he going through?

Too scared to say no, too moved to step away…

What are your hopes for the world?

What are your hopes for you?

LEADER:

Come forward and take a photo, any photo, From the box.

These photos are from different stories and different parts of the world.

What’s your prayer for the world… take the photo with you to look at and remember…

As you come you will notice these sandals.

These sandals have their own story,

They belong to Queenslander Dave Andrews,

A community organiser and founder of ‘The Waiters Union’ share house community

These sandals carried Dave through places like India and Asia, meeting the poor,

These sandals were there when he learnt the value of serving others,

And there when he committed himself that ‘another world is possible’…

‘Waiters Union’ run a community garden, helping programs, accommodation & care,

They are the shoes of someone who believes another world is possible…

we take our walk further on this journey

STATION FOUR: "STORIES" "Give in to My Love" Paul Kelly playing on loop

Stories are powerful, they cross boundaries like culture, language and time.

We are wired for stories and their impact can change people and events.

The stories we accept and the stories we hear and reject, shape who we are…

This is the story of an innocent man, suffering the death of a criminal,

This is the story of Jesus who disturbed the balance of power,

Who sided with those on the edges, the poor, the disregarded,

And who didn’t stop speaking the truth, despite danger to himself.

This is a story of Jesus who stands alongside you and I in our lives and struggles…

READER FOUR:     Luke 23: 32-43

³²Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.

³³When they came to the place that is called The Skull,

they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

³⁴Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying,

“He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!”

³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ³⁷and saying,

“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” ³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

READER FIVE:

This is a story of the cruelest of punishments, carried out to discourage others.

This man shows compassion and concern in the face of great pain…

What story is holding you back? What story causes you grief?

What story are you telling with your life?

LEADER:

We wait here, wondering what unfolds in this story… Things get worse…

STATION FIVE: "BAD"

LEADER:

“Desperation… dislocation… separation… condemnation… revelation…

In temptation… isolation… desolation”

These are the lyrics of the refrain from the U2 song “Bad”

READER SIX:     Luke 23: 44-49

⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land

until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵while the sun’s light failed;

and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

⁴⁶Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Having said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said,

“Certainly this man was innocent.”

⁴⁸And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle

saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts.

⁴⁹But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee,

stood at a distance, watching these things.

READER SEVEN:     [“Funeral Blues” WH Auden, but just start reading…]

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,


Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone.

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum,

bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead,

Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead’.


Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,


My working week and my Sunday rest,


My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;


I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,

pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,


Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

We stand in silence as we remember the story, how bad that must have been…

But we cannot stay here…

STATION SIX: “SILENCE” "I Grieve" Peter Gabriel playing on loop

We stand, we wait, we listen… a little off the edge of the story, but puzzled…

READER EIGHT:     Luke 23: 50-56

⁵⁰Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph,

who, though a member of the council, ⁵¹had not agreed to their plan and action.

He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea,

and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.

⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁵³Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth,

and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.

⁵⁴It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee followed,

and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

⁵⁶Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

READER NINE:

This is a story of shock, of nurture and care,

A recognition of hopes dashed, of a flame extinguished…

What had happened, what went wrong?

Who do you know, that things seem to go wrong for?

How have things gone wrong for you?

How will hope be rediscovered?

We grieve… we stand together…

LEADER:

But as we leave this space we are invited to each take a folded paper cross,

A symbol of hope and a reminder of one who stood by us,

Who died speaking and living the truth, even at a cost to himself…

These stations will be here for 30mins more

If you want to revisit or simply spend time…