Hello all. I remain of the opinion that “Good Friday” is both an ironic and a powerfully appropriate pair of words to represent the events in the Jesus narrative that we mark at this time of the year. There is something within us as humans that deeply wants to be in control of our own stories, right down to the details. And when our stories include darkness of whatever description, that doesn’t usually feel like a good match for the desire to have matters in hand. As a result, darkness doesn’t usually feel good. Good Friday is about darkness. But we still call it “good”. I know that it’s possible to answer this dilemma by pointing to what comes next in the story. I get that…but don’t try to convince me that is a meaningful or appropriate response when talking to someone that is in the middle of an experience of darkness. In those circumstances, we mostly need company. Which brings us to the “good” part of Good Friday. Local songwriter Gord Johnson has composed my favorite song about this space. It’s call “Gone is the Light”. The lyrics are as follows:

Gone is the Light  – Music and Lyric by Gord Johnson

Into the darkness we must go

Jesus remember me

Father forgive them

I love that this song offers the perspective of the thief that occupies the cross next to Jesus. You know…the one that gets told that you can “get into” the kingdom of God without having done a single thing to earn it, and whose life (arguably a dark one) ends in darkness. It also includes the words of Jesus that remind me that the generosity of that welcome includes all of us who don’t know what we’re doing, what it all means, what’s going on in the moment, where God is when all we can see around us is darkness. And of course, there is the refrain, which is also the first verse – a reminder that this path that goes into the darkness is one we all travel, in some way or other.

The story that we will mark on Sunday does not negate Friday. However, it does (or at least it can) reveal that the inevitability of darkness is also the unexpected path to light. And if the journey into dark places is one that is common to humans, so is the possibility of encountering light. We’ll explore that more on Sunday.

And we’ll do so in the context of a shared feast; a breaking of our fast together.

Easter Sunday Breakfast Details:

Eating Time: We’ll plan to eat at 10:00, which will give us enough time to enjoy our meal and some time to hang together before our gathering.

Food: We’ve got some folks already cued up to make pancakes and to bring bacon. At The Table, this seems to be essential. However, this is also a pot-luck, and unless we want JUST pancakes (or perhaps just bacon), we need to step up and bring some other dishes.

Potluck Suggestio