SULADS STORIES

I CAN FEEL THE CROSS IS HEAVY

by Nelson Decina

Dampaan Mission School

February, 1997

We took the children of Dampaan camping in the month of February.  The children were having fun gathering bamboo and cogon grass for their tents even though the rain was falling.  Their parents were happy for this activity so their children could prepare for the last day events. 

After the camping we had our bayanihan.  We got bamboo for fencing the village.  I went with the people  to gather the bamboo.  When I carried the freshly cut bamboo, it felt so heavy.  When I started carrying it up the hill to the village, I felt so tired.  The hills were steeper than I remembered them!  I asked my companions to stop for a rest.  After a short rest, we continued on up the hill with our bamboo on our shoulders. 

I began thinking of the crucifixion of Christ as I carried that bamboo up the hill.  I imagined Jesus struggling from Jerusalem down into the valley and up the other side towards Calvary as He carried that heavy cross.  Soldiers beat Him and drove the thorns into His head.  Later, while on the cross, He asked for water and they gave him vinegar to drink.  I was comparing what we were doing carrying bamboo with what Jesus did when he carried the cross.  My mouth was also dry.  I was thirsty.  The bamboo was heavy.

When we arrived in the village, I began talking to the villagers about the comparisons I had thought of between carrying bamboo and Jesus carrying the cross.  I explained to them how it was a great sacrifice for him to carry that cross for me.  I told them how I had decided that the bamboo was just too heavy for me and that I would just leave it on the hillside because I couldn’t bear it anymore.  I told them then of how I had become ashamed of myself for even thinking of quitting.

I told them of how Jesus carried that cross for my sin and their sins.  He was innocent of any crime and did not deserve to die but He was willing to carry my cross for me and to offer His life so that I may inherit eternal life.  I told them that Jesus had carried the cross for each of them and died for each of them.  They were happy to learn that Someone loved them so much that He was willing to suffer and die just for them!  This experience seemed to make the carrying of the cross just a little more meaningful to them.  Pray with me that they will walk with Jesus until He comes again to take us all to live with Him.