Dear friends and members of University UMC:
Today is Good Friday and we are feeling the weight of the world’s suffering and pain. In Sunday’s Palm/Passion service, I read the scripture from Luke 23 about Jesus being handed over to be crucified.
As I read the words in worship, I found my voice cracking–catching on the words “He has done nothing to deserve death…” An innocent man handed over to endure the cruelest of suffering. My mind and heart kept turning to the news of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man unlawfully imprisoned in El Salvador. Perhaps it is always true that Holy Week carries with it a palpable awareness of the suffering of the most vulnerable in the world, but this year it is especially so. We participate in a living, dying, and rising kind of faith. The promise of our faith is that Easter comes. But today is not Easter. This is a day to remember Christ’s journey to the cross. This is a day to open ourselves to our own pain and the pain of others. As I shared in a recent sermon, to have our hearts broken with the things that break the heart of God is to love as God loves. Whatever this day holds for you, I invite you to carve out space to observe it in a way that feeds your soul and honors Christ’s journey. This is a day to slow down. A day for silence. Maybe light a candle. Sit outside in the early morning or evening. Maybe read a psalm. Or just be still. And breathe deep.
