(In case you noticed I was absent) ... I'm Back! This brings to mind two images/sound bites from our pop culture: "Back in Black!" (just listen to it mentally for a bit while I wait .....)
and "I'll be back" (Terminator). Speaking of The Terminator, my husband texted me this week that Skynet had achieved sentience as of April 19, 2011, right on schedule, and humankind was officially doomed. Go Google it if you have no idea, like me originally, what he was talking about!
It is Good Friday, in the Christian tradition. Jesus is in the grave ... or he's finishing up being crucified and dying. We compress the crucifixion-resurrection bit, because if he died Friday afternoon, how was Sunday "the third day"? I was discussing this with my friend Olga today, who is a Jehovah's Witness, and she said it's because in biblical times, referring to a "day" was actually a 12-hour period, such as from sunset to sunrise.
I believe there was an editorial in the Wilson County News about this extremely important hard-news story, as well, since this is the type of article we all get the Wilson County News for, all of us being equally and identically slaves to Christianity in this area ... anyway, this very important and timely news editorial said that the Passover Sabbath day was a different day than the regular Sabbath, so Mary's arising early on the Sabbath could be a different day than we thought. And I believe it. Why? "Because the paper told me so."
In any case, we like to avoid suffering, so we don't let Jesus linger in death for very long. As soon as possible, we resurrect him and say our Hallelujah!'s and have egg hunts and eat too much ham, or some other meat, and go about our merry way. And forget about that passion stuff. Why does it even have to be there? Why is Jesus such a big downer, anyhow?
There is something very human about turning away from suffering. And yet, turning away and denying the reality of suffering actually causes more.
So I wish to think of Jesus, my Jesus, dead. Dead, and gone. Just like every other human being has died, or is dying, or will die. Yes, it's only temporary, death. (Like everything else, only temporary.) But I want to stay with this thought long enough to absorb it and pass through it to the light, not swerve around it. Just let me bury the one I love, and maybe grieve for a while, before we jump into all the "Hallelujahs" and such.
and "I'll be back" (Terminator). Speaking of The Terminator, my husband texted me this week that Skynet had achieved sentience as of April 19, 2011, right on schedule, and humankind was officially doomed. Go Google it if you have no idea, like me originally, what he was talking about!
It is Good Friday, in the Christian tradition. Jesus is in the grave ... or he's finishing up being crucified and dying. We compress the crucifixion-resurrection bit, because if he died Friday afternoon, how was Sunday "the third day"? I was discussing this with my friend Olga today, who is a Jehovah's Witness, and she said it's because in biblical times, referring to a "day" was actually a 12-hour period, such as from sunset to sunrise.
I believe there was an editorial in the Wilson County News about this extremely important hard-news story, as well, since this is the type of article we all get the Wilson County News for, all of us being equally and identically slaves to Christianity in this area ... anyway, this very important and timely news editorial said that the Passover Sabbath day was a different day than the regular Sabbath, so Mary's arising early on the Sabbath could be a different day than we thought. And I believe it. Why? "Because the paper told me so."
In any case, we like to avoid suffering, so we don't let Jesus linger in death for very long. As soon as possible, we resurrect him and say our Hallelujah!'s and have egg hunts and eat too much ham, or some other meat, and go about our merry way. And forget about that passion stuff. Why does it even have to be there? Why is Jesus such a big downer, anyhow?
There is something very human about turning away from suffering. And yet, turning away and denying the reality of suffering actually causes more.
So I wish to think of Jesus, my Jesus, dead. Dead, and gone. Just like every other human being has died, or is dying, or will die. Yes, it's only temporary, death. (Like everything else, only temporary.) But I want to stay with this thought long enough to absorb it and pass through it to the light, not swerve around it. Just let me bury the one I love, and maybe grieve for a while, before we jump into all the "Hallelujahs" and such.
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Beautiful post and I'm glad you're back (I had noticed). When I saw "I'm baaack!" I thought of the movie Poltergiest.
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