Today is the day of death.
Today is the day of denial, the day of violence, injustice, and shame. Today is the day of darkness and defeat.
Today is the day when everything goes wrong; nothing turns out the way we had hoped. Today is the day when all our expectations, aspirations, and dreams are shattered.
Today is the day when the carefully constructed scaffolding of our lives comes crumbling down. We are left alone, stripped, naked, nothing but our tears for consolation.
Today is the day when everything comes to a dead-end, no escape, no way out. Today is the day of despair. Today is the day we never want to face. Today is the day we spend our lives scheming to avoid.
There is nothing “good” about this Friday. It is the day when all the accumulated bad that has ever afflicted the human condition is heaped upon the shoulders of one man. All the worst of which humans are capable is poured out upon one sad and lonely individual.
And he carries it. He carries it all. He carries all that is broken, all that is tragic, all that is twisted; he carries it to the end of the day. He carries it into the dark abyss of forsakenness where it crushes him. It takes his life and destroys him. The defeat is total. This is the end of the story.
Yet even here, some hidden force unfolds. Life stirs. “The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”
Some mysterious power has been unleashed. An enclave of life has been breached in the forces of death. Defeat has begun to turn. Like a chink in the armour of despair, the lifeless body of this one man has created a crack in the hard shell of death. The “good” could not be contained. The deeper nature of the universe has begun to arise.
But today is the day hope remains a mere rumour; there are rivers of sorrow still to endure.
April 2, 2010
"Good" Friday
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1 comment:
Christopher,
A very fitting commentary and for those of us not at Church today , like a sermon but with Hope.
Today has not been a great day for us in terms of health for lovely spouse as in cold / cough and loss of power for part of the day and others. Then a branch has fallen across our power line and hangs touching the driveway and remains on the line which is bent.
Thankfully the line remains intact.
Try to get through to an agent today when you get a machine.
I finally did 10 hours later and got a person and now my issue is registered.
It is one thing to get the car out of the garage but another if that line breaks and is live.
Why do I say all this because what I have realized is that we have to give up control and not worry. Christ asked us to give Him our concerns and he will look after us.
Can you imgaine the control He gave back to his Father on this 'Good Friday'
Bless you.
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