The Friday Update - Good Friday?
“Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.“
King David, Psalm 23
Happy (Good) Friday,
Some think David is saying God’s goodness and mercy will trail us like a Golden Retriever. No. The Hebrew term used here describes hunters tracking prey and armies pursuing enemies. God’s goodness doesn’t lag behind us, it chases us down.
Good Friday?
As noted in years prior, Christians in other countries call today Holy Friday, Passion Friday or Friday of the Lament. Why do we call it “Good?” Some say “Good Friday” is an abbreviation of “God’s Friday,” but of course that’s not true. God might be a contraction of good, but good is not a contraction of God. I’ve also heard calling it good is American optimism on display. Perhaps. All I know is that Good Friday was unthinkably bad for Jesus, and incomprehensibly good for me.
A Video Reflection
While some find Gibson’s Passion of the Christ a helpful Good Friday reflection, I find it too much. This Chronicles of Narnia scene smuggles in the right amount of horror.
Overheard
1) It’s not happiness that makes us grateful; it’s gratefulness that makes us happy.
2) The debate between those who think addictions are a sin and those who think them a disease continues. What’s new is the suggestion of an inverse relationship between society’s loss of transcendence and the spike in addictions.
3) The “vibe shift” going on is “rightward, masculine, semi-religious and institutionally unregulated.
Without Comment
1)The Financial Times reports that 30% of Americans have a 10-year-old’s reading level.
2) The NYT reports the spike in egg prices led some to color (and hide) potatoes this Easter.
3) China is claiming that cash rewards led to a 17% rise in Tianmen’s birth rate.
4) Per this article and this report, the average person’s carbon footprint is 4.7 metric tons of CO2/ year; the average Americans is 16 tons. The average celebrities is 2,000.
5) NPR reported in 2022 that the US currently invests $50 per student per year for STEM and $.05 for civics.
Caution
I’ve been celebrating public figures — both intellectuals and entertainers – coming to faith. I should also be noting Paul’s concern about elevating recent converts into leadership too quickly. Kanye comes to mind.
WOTW
Honorable mention goes to righteous vandalism (a term a UConn fan used to describe the desecration of this sign); the event (tech gazillionaires placeholder for the upcoming AI, climate or nuclear catastrophe that has them preparing high-end bunkers. Americans have spent $11B in the last year preparing for a doomsday scenario); and soundbathing (which refers to using sound waves – ala Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, and tuning forks – to help people relax and sink into a meditative state, countering the pace and stress of modern life). Full honors go to social pollution (a way to explain the civic breakdown caused by algorithmic social media companies).
Quote Worth Requoting
“And so, he was lifted up upon a tree and an inscription was attached indicating who was being killed. Who was it? It is a grievous thing to tell, but a most fearful thing to refrain from telling. But listen, as you tremble before him on whose account the earth trembled! He who hung the earth in place is hanged. He who fixed the heavens in place is fixed in place. He who made all things fast is made fast on a tree. The Sovereign is insulted. God is murdered.” From a 2nd century Passover sermon by Melito of Sardis.
Under-reported
I’m surprised that more is not being written about: 1) the devastation caused by the Sexual Revolution (especially for women); 2) the scope and harm caused by “the Replication Crisis;” and 3) the near total collapse of esports.
To-Good-Not-To-Be-Revisited
Pastor EV Hill speaking on the power of the Bible. Starting in the 80s, I spent seven Spring Breaks leading groups of 50-70 college students on mission trips in South Central Los Angeles. We worked at soup kitchens, staffed after-school programs, lead Bible studies and did various other work – all while sleeping at the EV Hill-ton (i.e., the floor of Hill’s church). Hill was a gifted leader and a powerful preacher – as is evident from this four and a half minute video.
Resources
Click here to listen to last weekend’s sermon on Mark 14, in which I explore the shocking things Jesus says to his followers just before they face the trial of his death; click here to get info (or register to attend) my lecture on CS Lewis on May 4th in Tacoma, WA, and here to register for the same talk on May 5th in Bellingham, WA. Click here to sign up for Truth in the Noise, a Lakelight class I will be teaching starting May 1st at the Lake Forest campus of Christ Church, devoted to understanding how to live well in our confusing cultural moment.
Closing Prayer
Keep us, O Lord, from the vain strive of words, and grant to us a constant profession of the truth. Preserve us in the faith, true and undefiled; so that we may ever hold fast that which we professed when we were baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; that we may have you for our Father, that we may abide in your Son, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Hilary of Poitiers - 310 - 367)
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Resources for the formation of wisdom on the last Saturday of each month. Try it out.
