Like Poplar Sunday, I have a strong desire to rename today to "Bad Friday". I could do some added research to discover the reason that today was labeled "Good", and I would probably find out that it has something to do with the atonement theory.
I've seen over time that it is human nature for most people to want to colour over the pain, loss and sadness. We as humans wouldn't survive long as a species if we dwelled in the pits of life for too long. So we take our sadness and try to spin it for something beneficial. We look for character building moments in our tragedies. We look for a rainbow after a storm. We look for some way (to use a phrase from a common worship song) to "trade our sorrows". Maybe that is why today is called "Good"
But what if we just had the opportunity to sit in the gravity of the the story of that Friday (if it even was a Friday). Every year, millions of people gather for a traditional service to "remember" the events of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. How often in those services can someone remove themselves from the repetitive liturgy and traditional practices to sit in the sadness. I don't think we can. It's not in us to leave the picture and it's lines without what a crayon provides. We need to colour in the picture. It is incomplete without it. Or maybe it isn't.
Today is Bad Friday because it was really was a bad day.
