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b'(Is.50:5-9a;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.116:1-6,8-9;\\xa0\\xa0 Jas.2:14-18;\\xa0\\xa0 Mk.8:27-35) \\u201cI shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.\\u201d A simple enough statement made by our psalmist today, or so it seems.\\xa0 For what does it mean to walk with Jesus along the way of the Almighty God?\\xa0 What does such travel entail?\\xa0 Is it but to impart a word of peace and blessing to those in need, and continue merrily along?\\xa0 Is it but to say, \\u201cI have faith in God\\u201d?\\xa0 Words alone will not get us where we expect to be; we must walk in the way of the Lord, and to walk means to work. And what is this work with which faith cannot dispense; what does it entail?\\xa0 It could not be more succinctly stated than it is by Jesus to the crowds and His disciples in today\\u2019s gospel: \\u201cWhoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.\\u201d\\xa0 It is in the Lord\\u2019s steps we must walk, and, yes, those steps lead inevitably to crucifixion.\\xa0 This cannot be avoided.\\xa0 Do you not hear the Lord\\u2019s rebuke of Peter?\\xa0 Then how can you begin to explicate a life in Christ without His cross fixed firmly upon your shoulder?\\xa0 How can you think that \\u201cthe land of the living\\u201d may be found by easy means?\\xa0 It cannot. Listen to the words of the Servant spoken through the prophet Isaiah: \\u201cI gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard.\\u201d\\xa0 This and more the Lord did willingly to reveal the way you must walk \\u2013 this all the children of Israel, all God\\u2019s holy ones, take upon themselves all for the sake of the Gospel. But lest you lose heart in the face of all you must undergo, all the suffering you must accept to gain the kingdom, let me tell you something else.\\xa0 All those who take up the cross say also with the Servant, \\u201cHe is near who upholds my right.\\u201d\\xa0 Do you hear what He says?\\xa0 \\u201cThe Lord God is my help\\u201d!\\xa0 Do you understand its significance?\\xa0 We are with Christ and Christ is with God and so none of the blows of this world can hurt us.\\xa0 Indeed, they do not touch us, for it is Jesus who suffers all these blows for our sake.\\xa0 Though the cords may lacerate our skin, they cannot approach our soul, for the Lord indeed takes from us all \\u201cdistress and sorrow\\u201d and saves our very lives.\\xa0 Thus the psalmist sings, \\u201cHe has freed my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.\\u201d\\xa0 For He in whose sight we live our lives has already endured all evil, and now preserves us from its clutches.\\xa0 And so in this cross which seems so dark and foreboding, there is ultimate joy. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Weightless Crucifixion" from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, help us to lose our lives for the sake of the Gospel; if we take up our cross, you will certainly defend us, and bring us to everlasting life. YHWH, your work accomplish in us; the path of your Son let us walk.\\xa0 If we walk with you unto the Cross, we shall walk with you in Heaven.\\xa0 If from the Cross we turn, where shall we find our salvation?\\xa0 It is in suffering for the sake of the kingdom we find our freedom \\u2013 let us lose our lives for you and your Son\\u2019s Gospel. We must not think as men do, dear LORD, but as your Son instructs.\\xa0 If we wish to come to you, we cannot follow the way of the world.\\xa0 You are in Heaven and if to Heaven we wish to come then die we must to this empty life.\\xa0 Let not the darkness of this place encompass us, let it not touch our hearts, but let us take our refuge in the death of your Son and we shall be raised from the nether world. Buffets and spitting may be our fate in this life, but if we endure all with faith in you, with your Son we will be made strong, and be justified in His Day.'