Good Friday

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

But today is not a day of rejoicing. It's a day to reflect upon the cross. It's the day when we see what Lent has been leading up to. A day of mourning, of meditation. Many people use the word “reflection.”

It's no surprise to us. We do it every year. We know what is coming. We know all of what is coming. For me, this means I also sometimes have a hard time being somber on Good Friday, because I know what happens in three days' time.  Don't we all? We temper our sorrow at Jesus' sacrifice with the knowledge that it is not over, that he will come again, soon. As I dressed in black for church this morning, I had to stop myself from thinking ahead to three days from now, when I will get ready while singing Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (with the “Easter Hymn” tune), one of my favorite Easter songs (and not just for the descants!), or Handel's amazing Hallelujah (which I believe should be sung as loudly and as often as possible).

It has dawned a beautiful day here in Bangkok. We're in the throes of the hot season, which actually isn't so bad this year. Accuweather tells me it's going to get up to only 34C (about 93F) today, though apparently the “Real Feel” will be 45C (113F), owing in part to the 63% humidity that's forecast. Still, it is sunny and lovely out there-- doesn't seem fit for Good Friday at all, a day when most of the Gospels' writers tell us the land went dark at noon.

It also so happens that this year, Good Friday falls during the Thai festival of Songkran, the Thai New Year celebration. Songkran is anything but melancholy! Occurring in the hottest part of Thailand's year, the festival these days has become a giant water fight, the whole country over, for the three days that Songkran lasts (and even longer in some areas). At its best, it is a time of visiting family, honoring elders and asking for their blessing, going to the temple to make merit, and, of course, getting yourself and everyone around you as wet as possible! People in bright Hawaiian shirts roam the streets armed with water guns or spray bottles or buckets, gleefully dousing friends and passersby (if you don't want to get wet, even from crossfire, stay home or drive/take a taxi to your destination!). Everywhere, people are smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves.

I'll decline to go out and join in the fun today, since it's Good Friday (I went yesterday, the first day of the festival). But it's infectious. Yet another reason being sad is difficult today.

I'm not entirely sure I feel bad about that. Today I remember that Jesus died, and how he died, and why. Today we contemplate what wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the heavy cross for my soul... (this is another of my very favorite Holy Week hymns). But unlike the disciples and Jesus' family and friends, we have the benefit of hindsight, of knowing and not being able to forget what comes next. We know that the song ends: ...and when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be! And through eternity I'll sing on... We know that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Though it seems hopeless now, though darkness has come over the land, through our tears and sorrow we anticipate the light.

So today, on Good Friday, mourn. Reflect. Keep silence. But don't despair if you can't quite forget what is coming on Sunday. I don't think we're meant to. Living every day in his grace, I think we're meant to remember the whole story. Today, may you recall Jesus' sacrifice. But may you also, just as importantly, keep his joy.

 

 

 

*Photo is the stained-glass window at the front of Christ Church Bangkok*