Rednecks

Fifth Station--The Cross is Laid on Simon of Cyrene

(From The Stations of the Cross, Duccio de Buonensegna, 1308-1311)

Fifth Station: The Cross is Laid on Simon of Cyrene

Leader: O holy Christ, we worship you, we adore you;
People: A stranger unwillingly came to your aid and his life was changed.

Simon of Cyrene was merely a bystander in that rough crowd. As Jesus struggled, the soldiers knew he would need aid carrying his cross. Their eyes scanned the crowd. Simon's eyes looked downward. "Please don't choose me," he thought. "I have nothing to do with this. I merely came in from the country for Passover. Please, Lord. Not me." But perhaps it was his unwilling posture that caught their eye, and they dragged him out to carry Jesus' cross.

As his eyes met those of Jesus, Simon could suddenly see the pain of a broken world in Christ's countenance. From the center of his battered face, unquenchable eyes shone. From that moment, Simon unquestionably carried Jesus' cross.

Leader: Simon of Cyrene had no cross of his own to take up
People: So instead he willingly bore the cross of another.

Leader: Let us pray.
(a brief period of silence is observed.)

Holy God,
You come to us when we do not want you to appear.
You ask us to carry the crosses of others
When we do not desire to even carry our own.
Grant us the courage to carry those crosses
even when we would rather someone else do it.
Grant us the ability to see the privilege in being chosen to serve others.
Fill our hardened hearts
with the ability to serve our God,
even when we are feeling unwilling and unworthy to serve you.

People: Amen.

Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy immortal one,
Have mercy on us.

Deepika Padukone causes mid-air excitement

It was a flight from Jaipur to Mumbai that the passengers won't forget in a hurry. On Monday Deepika and her Karthik Calling Karthik team was to fly back on a private jet. But the pilot informed the team that they couldn't head for Mumbai due to a cyclone that was to hit Mumbai.

Says Deepika, “We had to return on Monday night because many of us had to leave for Dubai for the premiere on Tuesday morning. So we from Jaipur to Mumbai we all booked ourselves into the economy class of a commercial airline.”

What could've turned out to be a nightmare turned out to be a joyride for Deepika and her team and perhaps not such a pleasurable experience for the other late-fliers on board.

Says Deepika gleefully, “We had blocked a whole row and instead of sleeping after a super-hectic day we started playing Mendicot. We forgot we were in a commercial flight. So we were yelling and screaming in excitement while the rest of the passengers were trying to sleep.”

And now for the first time in her life Deepika is seriously addicted. “I can't stop playing Mendicot. Ritesh and Farhan introduced me and director Vijay Lalwani to the game. When we took off on Sunday from Mumbai on our private jet the first thing Farhan and Ritesh did was to teach us this game. I've become addicted.”

This could qualify as the biggest irony of the the entertainment industry in recent times.

While going a whirlwind tour of cities across the country to promote her new film Kartik Calling Kartik Deepika Padukone has gotten addicted to playing cards, which is what this week's rival film Teen Patti is about.

Deepika flew out of Mumbai in private jet on Sunday and Monday with her co-star Farhan Akhtar, director Vijay Lalwani and producer Ritesh Sidhwani.

Sighs Deepka, “I l-o-v-e-d the whirlwind tour. For two days I had more fun than I've had in my entire life. Throughout the trip we played Mendicot –not teen patti, please! We didn't sleep at all for two days because some of the flight- duration was less than two hours. So all we did was play Mendicot on flight.”

Now Deepika is hopelessly addicted to the game.

On Tuesday Deepika headed for Dubai.”It has been a hectic time. We covered six cities in two days. …three cities a day. It was possible only because the producer hired a private jet.”