Dear Caldwell,
What a rich and grounding worship experience we shared last night. Thank you to all the people, many invisible, who helped make the service possible. I would love to hear about your experience and feelings about the service. You can call or email me here.
Reflecting on the meaning of Christ’s humility in the face of the world’s confused power, I quoted Anglican minister and writer Jeremy Taylor in my meditation last night. It is such a powerful word I thought I would share it here, perhaps as part of your Good Friday prayer and meditation:
And (Christ) chose to wash their feet rather than their head, that he might have the opportunity of a more humble posture, and a more apt signification of his charity. Thus God lays everything aside, that he may serve his servants; heaven stoops to earth . . . and one abyss calls to another, and the miseries of humanity, which were next to infinite, are excelled by a mercy equal to the immensity of God.
As I noted when we are gathered at the cross last night, it is an odd thing we Christians do when we call this “Good Friday.” We do so to point out the paradox of the cross – that in it there is good news that we as people of faith claim, defiantly reversing the world’s view of the cross as a symbol of torture and humiliation. May the Lord be with you today and Saturday as we pray and act on how God in Christ reversed the worst the world could dish out.
Why not come by The Third Place for coffee of lunch today and spend sometime in the 24/7 prayer space as part of the vigil?
In Christ,
John