It’s a common expression. When good fortune comes our way over which we have no control, about which we really did nothing, we say, “I was in the right place at the right time.” We hear it all the time about people who have made a lot of money, without a lot of effort: “He was in the right place at the right time.”

We say a similar thing when the unwanted happens to us. “I was in the wrong place at the right time.”

Some of us feel that’s the story of our life — being in the wrong place at the right time. It’s a cynical word, expressing a sort of sneering surrender to fate.

The word takes on a different meaning when we look at our scripture lesson today. I’m sure Simon’s immediate response to his awful situation —— being compelled to carry a heavy cross through crowded streets and up a s…