Monthly Archives: March 2024

Chonda and I, and our two sisters, used to play games when we were travelling in the car with our parents. Those were the days before iPads and other screens to keep kids occupied. They were also the days before car seats, seat belts, and AC. Come to think of it, they might have been the days before automobiles.

We would take long road trips and to break the monotony, we would play games. The Alphabet Game was a good one. See who could find a word on road signs that began with every letter of the alphabet. Thank God for Quaker State Oil, and zoos. X was just an impossible task. We would finally say, “Okay, if you find it ANYWHERE in the word, it counts.”

Counting stuff was a time filler. We would all pick something to count and see who could find the most in the next 23 hours. Barns, VW Beetles, school crossing signs were all good bets. One time Cheralyn, the baby, said she was going to count dead pigs. Pretty long trip for her.

But the favorite game was a guessing game we called “Who Am I?” We would choose some person, famous or not, and the other three kids had to guess who we were. Usually, the first question was, “Are you dead or alive?” (That’s a question I ask myself every morning now when I wake up.) “Are you famous?” “Have I ever met you in person?” From the questions, we would try to narrow down the mystery car rider until finally we could make a guess or two and come up with the answer. I was the oldest, and only boy so I could get a lot of mileage out of some obscure baseball player. Charlotta was the most spiritual, so she always picked a missionary. And Chonda chose Minnie Pearl every time.

At the beginning of Holy Week, we started doing daily spiritual assessments, self-reflection to ask ourselves some very difficult questions. “What stuff needs to be cleaned out of my life?” “Am I looking forward to Jesus coming?” “Whose feet do I need to wash?” Those kinds of questions. I think the whole week could have been summed up in the one question from our game. “Who am I?”

Self-reflection is really no more than that. At the core of my being, in that secret place that no one knows about, who am I really? I can put on a good front. I wear a pretty convincing mask. But true self-examination goes beyond that to the heart of the matter, the heart, and looks at the real me.

I have been thinking about who I am, and who I have been, in light of the Crucifixion story. I want to portray myself as John, “the disciple that Jesus loved,” the one to whom He would entrust His own mother. Nice thought. But usually, I am someone else. I have certainly been guilty of denying Him. I know I have been the first thief that just wants Him to rescue me. I most assuredly have been guilty of selling His robe.

But if I am absolutely honest, most of the time I am just in the crowd watching. Of all the people there that day, those folk bother me the most. They didn’t really do something bad, They weren’t the ones that beat Him. They weren’t Judas, the betrayer. They just stood there, non-committal, not saying a word, just watching. When I ask myself who I am in this scene, I have too often just been a watcher. “Oh, God, please help me to change that. Help me to weep loudly. Help me to offer my tomb. Help me to declare my allegiance to you by every action and every word. Don’t let me just fade into the crowd.”

The good news is, it was over that very crowd that Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.” That’s who I am on this Good Friday. I am one of the forgiven. And you know what, so are you. Now, let’s go back to counting dead pigs. 😊

Happy Easter. (Below is the last Self-Assessment. I suggested you spend 12 to 60 minutes on each question each day, 2-10 minutes per question. Write a response to each one. If you need to look back at other days you can go to www.branchesblog.com and find them.)

“‘The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him. They said, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”.” Luke 23:35