• SOULPRINTS: “This Harsh Wood” for Good Friday

• VIEWFINDER: San Juan Capistrano’s Long Road of Faith

• TRAILMIX: Chicken-Beef Deluxe

• HELP: Tell a Friend and Get a Gift

• CAIRNS: The Happiness Lab podcast

In the Gospel of John’s Good Friday narrative, Jesus is forced to carry the beam of the cross through the streets. He has been flogged, mocked, interviewed by the skeptical Roman leaders, and denounced by the angry High Priest. His tortuous journey along the narrow streets is not detailed. I offer this imaginative perspective on what that rough beam means beyond just a few pounds of wood, for Jesus and for each of us… What is it?

He takes this harsh wood upon his back…

But what is it?

Just the penalty of an oppressor… the silencing of a challenge to power?

This harsh wood…

Broken hopes of a broken and enslaved people, his people, stolen again?

This harsh wood…

A log of sins he didn’t commit yet seeks to cleanse?

This harsh wood…

A cosmic papyrus of mercy for unnamed billions who wait in silence?

This harsh wood…

A weapon against evil that will shatter the chains of punishment?

This harsh wood…

A bridge reaching with love toward my pain, pride, anger, selfishness, estrangement?

This harsh wood…

A signpost beckoning me to follow his path for others, today?

The Mission of San Juan Capistrano is as old as the United States Declaration of Independence! Our visit a few years ago was a walk through time and faith. The Chapel is the oldest building in California still in use. Wine lovers note the Mission grounds produced the first California vineyard for the 1783 crop. Large bronze bells, first hung in 1775, are replicated today. The Mission has endured major earthquakes, being sacked by pirates, secularized by the Mexican government, rebuilt more than once, used as a brothel, and neglected for decades. Efforts at restoration began in 1895. The first movie filmed in Orange County was shot on the grounds in 1910. Today the Mission is a vibrant museum, community gathering place, and active parish with a large church next to it.

As I wandered the grounds, filled with religious art and the devotion of centuries, I reflected on the faithful who had gathered there. Controversy rightly surrounds the colonization effort that recorded hundreds of Native American “converts” in the early decades. The native culture was trodden down by the zealous Catholic brothers. Yet who am I to question the longing for God that filled the hearts of missionaries and converts alike? My life had a season where I disparaged any faith that wasn’t like mine, drawing the boundaries of God’s true work very tightly. A deep dive into the boundary-breaking ministry of Jesus became a better path of God at work in all people. None of us has all of God in a box of comprehensive understanding! We can embrace the truth that God was speaking to the Natives of the Acjahemen people in the centuries past just as much as the Catholic colonizers.

Yes, the swallows do return to Capistrano every year in March, following a 6,000 mile migration from Argentina. Though the numbers are reduced now the annual parade and festival grows! And so grows our faith as we find God in many voices.

Do you need an easy company-worthy entree or a soup? This is your ticket for either, and Chicken-Beef Deluxe is so easy you can be sitting in your recliner when company arrives! —JanMaree

Chicken with Dried Beef (Entrée or Soup)

3 full chicken breast filets or 6 half breasts

1 (8 oz.) pkg. dried beef, thinly sliced

6 strips lean bacon

1 can cream of celery soup

1 – 8 oz. sour cream

 As an entrée:

Arrange dried beef in pan large enough to hold chicken in one layer.  Wrap piece of bacon around each chicken filet and place on top of dried beef.  Combine celery soup and sour cream.  Mix thoroughly.  Pour over chicken. Cover pan with foil. Bake 1 hour at 300°.  Uncover; increase heat to 350° and bake 20-30 minutes longer, basting several times.

Do NOT add salt.  Add black pepper, if desired.

 As a soup:

Chop dried beef finely. Trim excess fat from bacon and chop finely. Layer dried beef and chicken in a crock pot. Top with sour cream/soup mixture and bacon. (Also, may add some dehydrated onion bits.) Cook for 6-8 hours on low. Shred chicken.

To prep soup:

Add 1-2 cartons chicken broth and 2 pkgs. Uncle Ben’s Pre-prepared rice.

*Chicken mixture may be prepared the day before then reheated. Add the chicken broth and rice to warm just before serving.

Please help me share the message of well-being on the Tracks for the Journey Network by recommending TRACKS EXPRESS to others. Here’s my offer: I’ll send you an excerpt from the first chapter of my memoir, “Journey to Friendship,” if you will forward this email and a recommendation to subscribe! This chapter starts the story of a young minister’s family in the tumultuous year of 1976. Here’s how to do the recommendation:

• Forward this email to some friends with a note recommending they subscribe. The button below is a link to subscribe or you can include the link: https://tracksexpress.beehiiv.com/subscribe

• Email me that you did this: [email protected]

• I’ll send directly to you a Word document or PDF of “Journey to Friendship, Chapter One” for you to enjoy.

In observance of World Happiness Day (March 20) I recommend this great podcast that gives practical helps for living, The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos. This professor is anything but dry and boring! Her stories, evidence-based mental health, and applications to solve common issues make it worthwhile. The website says:

“Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale — the most popular class in the university’s 300-year history — The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness.”

Check out The Happiness Lab podcast here or on your podcast provider