They forced him to carry the cross

^"A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. " Mark 15:21

Today when I read this verse, I realized that Mark must have included that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus because these men were known to the early Christians, possibly even members of the early Church. 

And yet, their father had just been "passing by on his way." Not only that, "they forced him to carry the cross."

What about this gruesome duty may have turned Simon's heart to Christ?  Unlike many others in the Gospel, he was not invited to catch men, to be given sight, to be made to walk, to pour oil on Jesus' head, or any generally hopeful vocation. Simon was invited to suffer with Jesus. 

Poor Simon.

It occurs to me that while Simon was "passing by on his way," Jesus met him with the invitation to Simon: 'Join Me on My way... the way of the cross.'

Would you accept this invitation eagerly?  It doesn't sound that appealing.  Maybe that is why "they forced him to carry the cross."  No one walks glibly into a cross. 

Maybe that's why times of suffering often meet us unaware, when we are not looking for them, and when they are least convenient.  Like Simon, we are "forced" to carry the cross.  Maybe it's a sudden death in the family, a crisis, an accident, a miscarriage, a breakup.  The pain is extreme, the pain is immediate, and excruciating ("excruciating"  bears some resemblance to "crucifition")

And as we are feeling this pain, usually this is where we encounter Christ.  We look over in the darkness, where we have been stripped of all the human comforts, and we see Him. 

I remember, once, when going through a time of suffering, that it consoled me to imagine a grain of wheat's actual experience as it transitions to become a stalk of wheat.  It has to die to its original nature, and is forced to be pulled apart, stripped, so that it can grow into its full "glory." Looking from outside a grain of wheat, we can see quite easily that it is in the grain's nature to suffer.  But it is also in the grain's nature to grow and flourish.  And yet, before it can grow and flourish, it must be forced to suffer "death."

Simon was invited, or forced, to suffer with Jesus.  But the words reveal a hint of the gift hidden within such suffering.  Simon's name is known in the Gospels, as are his sons'.  The suffering he was forced to that day was a great gift to him in his life.  When he carried the cross with Jesus, he found a treasure that he passed down to his children.