A thought for Good Friday morning:

 

Psalm 22:6-8

But I am … scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.

 

Isaiah 53:5

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

 

Mark 15:21-32 

They brought Jesus to the place called

Golgotha

... and they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get...They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So, You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"

 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

 

Reflection

This morning we start our journey through Good Friday towards Easter by spending some time at the cross of Jesus. Particularly, we will spend some time in the hopelessness of his first disciples.

 

“We are living in a world of Easter Saturday

Somewhere between the death

          Of what we thought we could trust

And the birth of new hope”

This morning, spend a moment with one of those gathered around the cross, maybe

•  Simon, carrying his cross,

•  Mary, watching her son die

•  or John His beloved disciple, given a new responsibility at a moment of huge loss

•  or the Roman centurion, his callous duty interrupted by a sense that something bigger was going on here.

Don’t try to understand or explain – just spend a moment of your day with them

Comments

[Tory Burch Outlet]

So, for me, I'm challenged by the high value that I put on success, doing my job well, being praised for doing a good job. It's all too important to me. Now, maybe I could think about giving up my present job and going for a less prestigious one? I think that the work I'm doing is what God has called me to do, but maybe I could do it in a different context (not a university). Now, I might be able to explore that idea further when I go on retreat next week, but I might also be able to experiment with some ideas. Just giving up my job would, I think, be too extreme, but what could I do that would try out a new way of valuing 'success'? Two options spring to mind. I've got to write a report on a project that I've been involved in. I don't think that I'm going to write a good report (too long to explain why) and I've been delaying, putting off the evil day when I'm criticised, and maybe found wanting by colleagues I value, maybe I won't be asked to do a project again? How will I handle that? Secondly, I'm going to try to organise some time over the winter to take my work up to a community house I know well. What will it be like to fit my academic research writing within the rhythms of a 'monastic' day?

So what explorations or experiments could you try to test out your emerging 'ideas'?