Good Friday
The day is overcast, air temperature at 34 degrees, no wind–as if Nature is at the fold point. Spring is soon to be felt, experienced, seen in the tender green shoots emerging from the black earth, seeking light, warmth, life. Life is a mystery, impervious to our intelligence. We describe it variously, but do not understand its essence. The painter, photographer, organic chemist have respective languages to describe life. Ultimately we bow in respectful silence before what we do not understand. Life just is.
Good Friday is one of the nodal points in holy week. The day recalls the story of Jesus conflict with the authorities of his day. Perennially any individual who believes, who advocates that peace, love, and understanding is a basis for all human relations, and for the conduct of institutional relations–is going to be regarded as a traitor to the status quo. The status quo of Roman rule began in violence, and was sustained by violence. This is clearly recognized in retrospect. The Romans were superbly adept at keeping their colonial subjects in line, by military means, for hundreds of years. You did not challenge Rome’s hegemony without paying full measure.
Perhaps you recall the outlines of what happened to Jesus. Arrested as a trouble maker, in custody of the military “police” he is surrounded by a mob of his countrymen before the Roman Prefect. Jesus in his character and words is a “problem” the straightforward solution to which, is a summary judgment of execution. And that was the outcome, as everyone knew in advance.
It is easy to identify the forms of injustice that compose this disturbing story. These lie like dark striations across the end tale of the carpenter of Nazareth’s life. It’s not as easy to see the dark lines of injustice generated by our own collective commitments, in our own time.
How could we have selected by general election, a demonstrated conman-huckster as President of our country? Clearly many of us still believe this individual who is a habituated liar, will somehow, accidentally cause improvement in the quality of our life as a society, a country. And enough of us were mesmerized by the vacuous slogan, “Make America great again,” that we forgot to ask: “what is meant by “great?” “When were we great and at whose expense?” Never mind such concerns. Like a mob we believe that a simple solution is called for. Just get rid of Jesus. Just put a bloviating bad-ass guy in charge.
All of us are the victims here. And we are all going to hang from a cross. It is a cross of our own making.
I could go on and on, in detail. Others have.
