Sat, Mar. 26
... Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Yesterday was Good Friday, and I had an epiphany. I realized what it means.
No, not in general. I know that, even though I still marvel at it.
I realized what it means for me. Why Good Friday is special for me; what gift God has given me through that day.
I was born on Good Friday--April 9, 1982, was Good Friday, and now (the way the Easter cycle happens to go), my birthday falls on Good Friday once every 11 years. Which means that last year, it did.
I didn't realize it until this year, though.
Good Friday is about life. It's about an understanding of that Life that Christ gives, and that fresh and constantly renewed hope of eternal life. Easter is the season when, to those who are completely in love with Jesus, the sadness of death is lessened. The cross wasn't the end. The cross is Good Friday; we live in Saturday; and someday, we will fully live in the glory of Sunday.
As Christians, we live in that strange limbo of Easter Saturday, with the hope of Sunday just on the horizon. We live our lives in the process of being redeemed from the horror of Friday, anticipating the Resurrection. Living in the hope of Christ's Resurrection; waiting for the day when ours will follow.
Good Friday is a day of life, though. Sometimes, the greatest reminder of life comes through death, but sometimes it comes through birth, and I was born on a day of great juxtaposition between life and death.
My physical life began on a day that celebrates the sacrifice that bought my eternal life. My birthday is not only my birthday, but also my life-day.
That's my Good Friday.
This year, I've lived immersed in Lent. I didn't grow up in a tradition where we practiced Lenten fasting, but when I got to high school and had friends from more traditional backgrounds, it became something that I did. I started it when I was about 16 or so, and I think I've fasted for Lent every year since then.
This year, because I was teaching Sunday School, and because I was preparing my lessons a month in advance, I've been immersed in the Holy Week since Ash Wednesday or before. I've been living my life in view of the Last Supper; the betrayal and arrest; the Crucifixion; the Saturday between; and most of all, the Resurrection.
This has been my Lent, and it's lead to the most meaningful Easter I've had in years.
So... today is Saturday. In so many ways, this is the Saturday of the Holy Week, but Saturday doesn't last forever. Dawn comes, and with it, the empty tomb.
infinite || abyss
posted at 5:59 p.m.
