It's probably no surprise that we don't do the Easter Bunny or decorate for that stuff. Nothing against those that do, but if you'll remember my rants about Christmas, you can only imagine how uncomfortable I feel with the commercialization of Easter. We celebrate the coming of Spring this week too, so we have 4 little bunnies holding flowers for our table for family dinner on Sunday. The kids play with eggs, but we don't associate them with Easter. They play with them from now until they all get lost or broken. I love to get together and eat with the family. I dress the kids in matching clothes, and I have no justification for that except that I'm a clothes freak.
I feel weird at Easter service too. When I was faaaar from the Lord, I didn't go to church on Easter. I didn't want to offend Him by coming only that one day. Some look at it like, "Well, one day is better than nothing." I'm not sure how I feel or even if it's important. We go to church every Sunday, so we'll be there on Easter. As for all those who are only there that day? It doesn't matter what I think, and it's between them and God. Hopefully some people will come to Him that day.
Some denominations don't celebrate Easter at all. They celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection all year. (waving to my "weird" friend) I like that way.
All that being said, I've thought a lot about Jesus today. Not that I don't every day, but more of what he went through and why. What was it like? How did he feel? What about those who loved His? His mother watched Him die. Can you imagine??? My heart aches for her. Her baby-the Savior. What conflict. The thief on the cross, who believed. How thankful is he today, that he believed? He came so close to hell. Those apostles. I can't imagine. Peter. Precious Peter. He really blew it. And Judas. I'm trying to imagine his anguish.
This was a "nice" reminder of what He went through: http://www.carm.org/misc/crucifixion.htm
I bought the Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack today, and it's so beautiful. (If you are going to watch the movie, watch the director's cut, please.) It reflects how I feel, and the music reminds me of Jesus. I love watching movies like those. Just to get closer to where and when Jesus lived. Silly, I know. That movie was about the Crusades, not really when Jesus lived, but you know what I mean. Hopefully...
We were in the car today, and we were talking about Good Friday. Laney said, "Why is it called 'Good' Friday ? It's not a very good day for Jesus."
I stammered around, trying to answer her. Was that information I knew at one time, but lost during those labors or during the myriad of sleepless nights? I came home and looked up the answer, and this nice fellow, Ken Something-or-other, put it rather succinctly and nicely:
"Calling the day of the Crucifixion ‘Good’ Friday is a designation that is peculiar to the English language. In German, for example, it is called Karfreitag. The Kar part is an obsolete word, the ancestor of the English word care in the sense of cares and woes, and it meant mourning. So in German, it is Mourning Friday. And that is what the disciples did on that day—they mourned. They thought all was lost.
I’ve read that the word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy, but I can’t trace that back in my etymological dictionary. There are a number of cases in set phrases where the words God and good got switched around because of their similarity. One case was the phrase God be with you, which today is just good-bye. So perhaps Good Friday was originally God’s Friday. But I think we call it Good Friday because, in pious retrospect, all that tragedy brought about the greatest good there could be.
I can see virtue in either terminology. If we call it Mourning Friday, as in German, we are facing reality head on, taking up the cross if you will, fully conscious that the Christian walk is seldom a walk in the park. But if we call it Good Friday, as in English, we are confessing the Christian hope that no tragedy—not even death—can overwhelm God’s providence, love, and grace. Either way seems fine to me!"
There was some relief in finding that answer.
I think the most important thing about Easter to me is making sure I am this thankful for Jesus' sacrifice ALL year. I don't want to be this reflective just these 3 days a year. That shrinks down what Jesus did to a mere trivial smidgen of insignificance.
What really stuck with Laney today, what she really talked about, is that Jesus died for people that He knew would never love, believe in or accept Him. That gets me to. That is love that we as humans can't even comprehend.
I was watching a thing on the Shroud of Turin (http://www.shroud.com/) this morning. Looking at that face, wanting it to be His. Just so I could see it. I just needed to see His face. It's hard not to know what someone looks like when you love them this much.
This holiday makes me really want to go look in that face and tell Him "thank you." How shallow and how much those word pale in how I really want to thank Him. I'm really trying to thank Him with my life.
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