The current world record for pull-ups in 24 hours is 4,321. We average about 23,000 breaths per day. The world records for most consecutive pull-ups without dismounting is 232. Crucifixion doesn’t allow dismounting and breathing is required.
Crucifixion kills through slow asphyxiation. The victim is hung by their arms in such a way that the rib cage is hyper-extended, making breathing difficult. Exposed to the elements, the victim would pull themselves up to draw breath until exhaustion overcame them. This could take hours or days.
COVID-19
During this coronavirus pandemic, many feel like they’re being slowly asphyxiated — COVID-19 patients are — from many different directions: fear, health, freedom, money, uncertainty. There’s really no getting away from it. It feels a lot like a crucifixion. In very short order, we’ve been captured, stripped, and continuously squeezed with little certainty as to when it will be over. And nearly everyone seems powerless to help us as our forced march toward that hill ensues.
I should be up to my ears in photographing, grilling, and spending time with friends and family. I should be reaping the rewards of the hard work and careful planning I put into running a successful business. I should be wondering which photo will go up on social media rather than wondering which photo will go up on social media.
“Write a blog post,” my wife says.
And here I am, doing what I do: express the world and myself through images. Right now, I feel like I’m on the road to Calvary and going to be crucified. I went from powerful, capable to stripped and trampled. My dry-cleaning hung my closet, unused, as a mocking testament. I’m tired too.
Stations of the Cross
Last year, I was commissioned by Saint James Catholic Church in Falls Church, VA to photograph their annual living Stations of the Cross. The parish’s Hispanic community plans, produces, and acts in the dramatization that weaves its way through the small city’s suburban neighborhoods.
The idyllic yards were shattered by the din of the crowd and the spectacle of a public execution.
Simon & The Women
As garbage as this time is, I do have silver linings and help as I go through this difficulty, like Jesus did. Sure, they can’t stop the outbreak or how it affects our lives much like Simon and the Women couldn’t. However, the blessings of my family, friends, co-workers, and time really help. They’re boosts when I fall and are reminders that I’m not 1000% alone and although the top of this hill is the scariest, there’s Easter.
Easter
Sometimes I forget I have faith.
It teaches me that after the Crucifixion is The Resurrection. This isn’t the end and I am to take advantage of this time to be better at something that I normally wouldn’t have time to improve.
This year’s Good Friday hit home for me. It usually doesn’t because I’m so busy covering Holy Week. The shield of my camera has been lowered and the story is my story. So much has been stripped away and I don’t know if it’s coming back or when. But I can say that I am really enjoying what I have now.
See you all on Easter Sunday!