What’s ‘good’ about Good Friday? was a question posed by my brother. Great question! So what’s an equally good response?!
Exact origins of the name ‘Good Friday’ are uncertain. Some suggest the use of "good" is an Old English synonym for "holy." Others suggest it is a corruption of the word "God," in the same way that "Good Bye" comes from the phrase "God be with ye."
Whatever the origins, we tend to prefer our spiritual journey to take a sharp turn from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and leave out the rest of the week—particularly Good Friday. Life is busy. We don’t need to add anything more, especially the more somber parts of our Christian tradition.
And yet, I’ve learned that Easter only has meaning as a response to Good Friday. The two are entwined. As poet Ann Weems suggests:
We want our Life from Birth
Instead we get Life from Death
emptied from a tomb
Perhaps we can find room for the whole week’s excursion. Or perhaps we can add one piece to our spiritual odyssey. We can choose whether to attend the Disciples’ Supper on Thursday evening—a gentle gathering of all ages to share food in our worship space and remember the last meal Jesus ate with his friends.
With courage, we can gather for Good Friday and reverberations of crucifixion in song and poetry. On Saturday, we will keep vigil by watching the film “Wit,” a pragmatic yet poignant journey from life to death to hope. And of course, we will pull out all the stops (no organ puns intended) on Easter Sunday. We will greet the sunrise on the beach at Leuty Lifeguard Station, share a pot luck breakfast together, and then raise our voices in jubilant song, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Hallelujah!”
Abigail
Sister-in-Christ, friend on the journey
To view an Easter message from our United Church Moderator, Mardi Tindal, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/unitedchurchofcanada
To read about Beach United Church's Holy Week events, click on HEARTBEAT.