Spiritual Disciplines: The Stations Of The Cross

I do not know if this actually qualifies as a spiritual discipline, but there was a qaulity to it that makes me wish I could do it more often. I belong to a protestant church so the fact we are actually doing our own version of the stations is interesting. What is sad is that I have already done our stations of the cross more times in the three years at my current church than I ever did as a Catholic. I remember Sister Margaret taking my CCD class around my church's sanctuary going over each of the beautifully wooden hand carved stations. I can't tell you all the time I stared at those pictures totally ignoring mass. It wasn't so much out of spiritual curiosity, but more for the fact that they were kind of gruesome and pretty cool to look at. Our protestantized version didn't offer images. Instead each station was an object that allowed us to touh, taste, and smell the life of Christ. It made it more tangible and real to feel the ropes that bound his wrists, smell the perfume used to annoint him, and eat of the bread from the last supper. At the center of it all was a giant wooden cross we had to nail a piece of paper with a sin to. It is amazing to how meditating on a few objects to coincide with the life of Christ can really make Him more real in our lives. I can't recall the last time Christ felt more personal and alive to me. It was such an act of worship. So powerful. I think if I were to do it more than a few times a year it wouldn't have as much meaning as it does now. Unlike prayer or worship this is such a unique opportunity that it can become trite and meaningless with over use. It is amazing. When I was younger I tried so hard to get away from the older styles of worship, but now I look forward to the opportunity it brings to my spiritual life.