{"id":2015,"date":"2015-04-03T13:13:19","date_gmt":"2015-04-03T17:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2015"},"modified":"2015-04-03T13:13:19","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T17:13:19","slug":"close-proximity-to-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/04\/close-proximity-to-the-cross.html","title":{"rendered":"Close Proximity to the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Standing near the cross were Jesus\u2019 mother, and his mother\u2019s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, \u201cDear woman, here is your son.\u201d And he said to this disciple, \u201cHere is your mother.\u201d And from then on this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:25-27)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Dearest Jesus,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>If I were there at the foot of the cross\u00a0with your beloved Mother and the disciple whom you loved, what would I see and hear? What would I feel? And what would have you said to me there? Did you love John more than the others because you asked him to care for your Mother? Or was it simply his proximity? His availability? Oh, regenerate me so that I will always stay close to your heart, close\u00a0to your presence. I want to be a friend that is available to love and care for the those who\u00a0are dear to you, and in so doing, love You. Teach me how. Teach me now. Please, Lord. And thank you. I remember your breaking heart and your broken body today. I will ponder the steps you took to the cross and the victory you found in the tomb. And when you speak to me: &#8220;Here is your mother&#8230;&#8221; may I hear and obey. Like your beloved friend, John. Thank you&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Amen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Standing near the cross were Jesus\u2019 mother, and his mother\u2019s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, \u201cDear woman, here is your son.\u201d And he said to this disciple, \u201cHere is your mother.\u201d And from then on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1027,294,1742,1029,449,1028,410,399],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-easter","tag-good-friday","tag-jesus","tag-john","tag-mary","tag-mother-of-jesus","tag-suffering","tag-true-disciple"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Close Proximity to the Cross<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/04\/close-proximity-to-the-cross.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Close Proximity to the Cross\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Standing near the cross were Jesus\u2019 mother, and his mother\u2019s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, \u201cDear woman, here is your son.\u201d And he said to this disciple, \u201cHere is your mother.\u201d And from then on&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/04\/close-proximity-to-the-cross.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prayer, Plain and Simple\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-03T17:13:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark and Jill Herringshaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Close Proximity to the Cross","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/04\/close-proximity-to-the-cross.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Close Proximity to the Cross","og_description":"Standing near the cross were Jesus\u2019 mother, and his mother\u2019s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 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