NOW I HAVE TO TELL YOU

At the beginning it was a rush of excitement- especially because after only a couple of stairs- I realized there were these little peep holes covered with glass- in which you could look in and see the original marble stairs-

OH I should note- I found a great article on these stairs at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1554541/Steps-Jesus-walked-to-trial-restored-to-glory.html

Definitely check it out- because it tells the history and the recent renovation done to the stairs. Anyway- I could see in to the stairs- it was amazing to think that these are the actual stairs that were in Pontius Pilates house and Jesus WALKED on these stairs? (Or probably more likely had to crawl)- But then I also began to realize how seriously everyone around me was taking this- and its not that I wasn't- but clearly I wasn't to the level they were. At each of the round holes showing the stairs, people would stop and kiss the glass, put their hands over the openings- and say prayers out loud- of course I'm thinking- ooooh man the germs on that glass!

All in all the climb up took about 15-20 minutes- there were times it felt like 10 hours- and I have to say- that it was SO painful on the knees, there were times I was tearing up and thinking how am I going to raise my knee to the next step without crying out in pain- or falling backwards- or just getting up and making a run for it- and no matter how ritualistic and even pagan it might seem to a Baptist to be doing something like this- you have to stop and think of what Christ was going through going up these same stairs- if my knees hurt this much for 15 minutes- oh MAN what was he going through in taking all that beating, whipping, humiliation, and then of course ultimately- the crucifiction-all for us. By the time I got to the top I had said my prayers, thanked him for what he did, and was never so glad to see Carol in my life.