Good Friday

The Crucifixion, by Gustave Dore (1832-1883), 

one of my favorite artists 

specializing in Biblical and Classical themes …

This morning Little One and I will watch The Passion of the Christ. At age 11 and a half, this will be her first viewing of this modern classic. The wife and I feel it’s okay for her to see it this year. Patch will be given plenty of snacks and sent to her room with plenty of books and an iPad loaded with innocent and fun games.

Later on the three of us will head over to our church to pay our respects. On Good Friday there are no masses. The church is dark and cool. A six-foot crucifix is placed centrally before the altar with a kneeler in front of it. I’ve seen lines of twenty or thirty people waiting to pray before it, and I’ve seen the church totally empty. We’ll head over around eleven, so I’m not sure how crowded it will be.

After that I’ll make the girls some pasta. I’m fasting, but they are exempt. That being said, it won’t be a day of hogging out with snacks. They have some chores to do later on, such as breaking down their Girl Scout cookie orders so we can have them ready to ship out and distribute tomorrow.

My Lenten practice this year was to read through the Psalms. When I read through the Bible way back in 1992 for the first time, I skipped the 150 psalms. Since then I have made numerous halting efforts to read through them, the last being Lent four years ago. This year I started the first three weeks reading four Psalms a day, then a few days went by where my focus was elsewhere, then I went back, then I went away. I read up to Psalm 129 last night, so I have 21 to read through by Easter. Eleven today, ten tomorrow. Doable.

Other than that, all quiet on the western front. No forward movement, just status quo. Battling minor depression and major existential crises. Not fun, and my biggest foe is myself. As always, have plenty of ideas to put to electronic pen, but finding time and energy is waging a Sisyphusean tactical war.

Something to pray about and for, today, along with all the Christian persecution in the Middle East, the victims of terrorism in Europe, and the husband of my wife’s coworker who just entered hospice with brain cancer.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.