Today is good Friday

Today is Good Friday. I will never forget a comic that I saw, quite a few years ago. It was "BC" - the comic strip with cavemen. And, sometimes they define words, giving them unusual or wacky definitions. This time, they defined "Good Friday" as "the only Friday worthy of being called good". I will never forget that. Today, I am thinking about death. Not only the death of Jesus. The death of my grandfather, who we lost to cancer over many years ago.I had been praying for my patients in the (ICU),. I am thinking about death. In my prayer time this morning, I could not help but recall those brutal scenes from "The Passion of the Christ" where there was so much Blood. So much pain. So much confusion. So much death. And so much love. On our retreats, in small groups, occasionally I ask the question of teens, "When have you felt closest to God?" But, I also like to ask, "When have you felt furthest from God?" Overwhelmingly, the answer for both questions usually has to do with death. Countless times I have heard things like – "When my grandfather, I wondered why God took him" "When my grandma died, because I knew he was in heaven". When someone died, because of how our family all came together" Sometimes, for some people, the experience of when they felt closest to God is the same as when they felt furthest away. And, often, it is in death. Jesus modeled it, and I thank Him for His honesty. On the Cross, he cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" I have felt that pain and confusion in the face of death. I feel it today. And yet, he also cried out, "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit." I have also known that trust, and utter dependence on God. I know it today. It was called, "It's Friday, Sunday's Coming!' The talk described the death and pain we all experience in our lives. Not only physical death, but emotional death and even spiritual death. But, after each statement of death and pain, he said, "It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming!" I believe it. And, Jesus modeled it. Today is Friday. He is hanging on the Cross, after being mocked and scourged. He dies. But Sunday is coming! I believe it. And, I trust in Jesus. I remember how Jesus said, "It is finished". At that moment, I knew that my prayers for healing were answered in an eternal way.