Good Friday

One of the most sacred days of the year for Christians.  The day we are reminded of the cost of our behavior.  Or it should be.  So many who profess to be Christian ignore this day, treat it as just another day.  Easter becomes the sole focus, and too many churches support the "eggs and bunnies holiday."  I am not saying that we should ignore the secular traditions, but at least at church, the focus should be on the reason for the holiday.  People make mistakes.  Big ones.  They cause each other pain.  They cause their Creator pain.  In our faith tradition, our Creator decided that instead of wiping us out completely, He would offer us a chance to start over.  A sacrifice for the sorrows caused, and He provided the sacrifice of His own flesh. 

This faith should make a difference in our behavior.  Oh, yes, we are still human, we will still do things we should not, and fail to do things we should, but the fact that we know we are loved so deeply, so completely, should make a difference in our attitude toward life and the other people in it.  The knowledge that God loved us enough to provide us a way past the just consequences of our naturally awful behavior ought to make us more tolerant of others, more forgiving.  Sadly, these days, it seems to make many "Christians" smug, and INtolerant.  It makes them feel justified in their judgement on the behaviors of others that they disagree with.  Nowhere evident is the love that Jesus preached, nowhere seen the kindness that He displayed. 

A few churches DO practice what Jesus taught.  Even stuffy old staid institutions like the Episcopal Church.  They gladly serve the poor, welcome ALL into their churches, value the service and faith of all people who come in sincerity to worship.  Even in the Roman Church, these days, the new Pope is showing an astounding tendency to act more like Jesus than like the Pope.  He goes to the poor, the suffering.  He desires not to live in the posh surroundings his predecessors have enjoyed.  He reaches out in genuine love to those who need it.  Such an example is needed by all who call themselves Christian these days.  We live too much in the isolation of our modern world, too ready to judge others based on our little list of "appropriate" behaviors and beliefs. 

On this day, more than on all the others of the year, Christians, we must hear and OBEY the words our Lord said to us:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it:  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Before we rejoice in the victory that is Easter, let us remember the cost of our salvation and what He who paid that cost actually asked us to do.  Difficult, isn't it?  So very hard to love our neighbors, especially when they might disagree with our particular take on things.  Hard for me to love those who seem to spread hate rather than love, but how else to make them see the Truth, than to meet their ugliness with the beauty of love?  It is a difficult thing to live as we are asked, as we should live, in order to see that all are included in the prosperity and joy of this life.  May God help all of us, no matter our faith, to find the love in our hearts, and to have the courage to share it.
Peace to you, and joy in this season.