Mystic Musings: Good Friday
"Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.”
Jesus, the first mystic of the Christian tradition
Today is Good Friday when Christians around the world will observe the death of Jesus on the cross at the hands of political authorities and with the support of religious elites. I will admit that as a pastor I often grieved on Good Friday—not because of Jesus’ death (well, that too!), but because of seeing the completely lopsided attendance at Good Friday services compared to Easter Sunday services. I often experienced a 10:1 ratio—ten Easter celebrants for every one Good Friday disciple.
Photo by Saad Chauddhry @saadchdhry
I grieved because I understood Holy Week as an unfolding narrative. Holy Week is best experienced as a full narrative rather than a pick-and-choose exercise. Celebrating Easter only is sort of like watching final scenes only of The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy returns home in her dream. I suppose that is one way to do it, but its the narrative that leads up to that moment that brings the tears to the eyes. Coming home means almost nothing if you haven’t experienced the pang and angst of homelessness (in whatever form).
The fact of the matter is that our world is not built on successive Easter moments. Most of nature doesn’t just go on blooming year round (although there are exceptions). Even with our own growth we find ourselves shedding the identity of childhood for adolescence, adolescence for adulthood and adulthood for our elderly years. We are always dying to one life so that we can open ourselves up to a new life.
Can you imagine a forest where the fear of dying was so pervasive that oak trees never dropped acorns, where salmon never spawned, where dandelions never went to seed, and where mushrooms had no dead and decaying matter in which to flourish? We all know this to be true—that “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain…”
“…But if it dies, it bears much fruit!” That is our challenge. That is our invitation. That is Life.
Sit quietly. Breath deeply. Ponder these questions:
Is there something that you are holding onto that is keeping you from entering life fully?
Are there parts of you that no longer serve you or others well? Is it time to let them go?
Where have you experienced the process of letting go or dying opening the way to new life?