Good Friday

Good Friday...What did you do today? What did you think about? Do you know the meaning of this day? For many, today was a beautiful day to spend outside playing, golfing, or maybe indoors shopping or Spring Cleaning. These are not bad things, mind you. I am not judging. I even stopped and ran a few errands myself this afternoon. However many forget to take the time to remember the true meaning of Good Friday.

For those of you who know me well, you know that my favorite holiday is Easter. It has been for as long as I can remember. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Savior's birth, especially as a kid. However, the feeling in my heart that I get at this time of the year is one of completeness, of rebirth of my spirit, and of anticipation of a Glorious Resurrection.

While many rush through Holy Week without recognizing it or complaining that "I go to church to much" this week, I savor it. I read the scripture from the Holy Week Readings and find comfort in it. I must confess here that often I miss days of the Daily Text and try to play catch up at times. I do lead a rushed life and should slow down more. But the Lenten Season does this for me. I want to slow down. And I do.

My Pastor asked the congregation to pick someone this week from the scripture and place ourselves in that person's position in Jerusalem during the time period of the events of Jesus' last week on Earth. We were to think about how that person felt watching the events take place. Basically "become" that person. I decided, since I was a mother, to place myself as Mary, mother of Jesus. I thought about her a lot this week. How must she have felt to watch her son be mocked, beaten, humiliated and then crucified. And to know in the last moments of his life, He still thought of her and gave her a son, one of his disciples, so that she would be cared for on Earth. The agony that she might have felt became real for me today during the Crucifixion Service. I am always saddened during this service, however today I felt it deeply. Yet as I prayed a Peace came over me. A feeling of Empty Peace. The faith she must have had in God. And at the same time the huge Emptiness she felt. So I sit here tonight with that same Emptiness. An emptiness I feel every year between the Crucifixion service and the Sunrise Service. The emptiness from knowing, that for a short period of time the Earth was void of the Savior. Yet this year, I feel it a bit differently. A bit more personal. It allowed me the opportunity to grow as a mother and cherish, even more, my time with Maxwell. Even if it is just sitting on the couch eating popcorn ( way past his bedtime).

I know on Sunday morning I will cry again. But they will be tears of joy. I will will once again Praise God for his unconditional love and Thank Jesus for his sacrifice for me and for all . I will spiritually be reborn. It is a moment I cherish each year and there is nothing, be it rain, unpleasant people, or even below freezing temperatures that can take that away from me. It is a truly GLORIOUS moment. This year, I will think of Mary. As I listen to My Pastor, A women, Speak those words "HE IS RISEN". A first for the Moravian Church. And instead of thousands shouting the words "Crucify", as they did so many years ago....Thousands will respond "HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!" And with those words, my emptiness will go and all that will remain is PEACE.

May Peace be with you also....Until He Comes

Lisa and Maxwell