Riding on a cross - alone - without an army - with no weapons but love (1 Corinthians 1:25), Jesus invaded the Valley of Tears. Make no mistake. He did not come to evacuate us from it. Only Sister Death evacuates us from it (Canticle of the Sun) and she waits until we are ripe. Nor was his purpose to turn the Valley of Tears into a better, more hospitable place for godless people to live. God wants to turn godless people into People of God. Jesus invaded the Valley of Tears to show us the way through the evils of the Valley of Tears. He blazed a trail through it for us. He invites us to follow him through Valley of Tears on the trail that he blazed. The trail is the only shortcut through the wilderness. It is the easy way not the hard way. It is the path of least resistance. He hung from his Cross to show us how to hang from our crosses. THE TRAIL WAS BLAZED TO MITIGATE OUR DIRE PREDICAMENT IN THE VALLEY OF TEARS NOT TO AGGRAVATE IT. He mitigates our dire predicament in the same way that sugar cubes dilute the bitterness of a cup of bad coffee. We come into intimate contact with the sweet truth in the Valley of Tears when we engage in close encounters with our living and loving God at the holy places that define the escape route through the evils of the Valley of Tears.
