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good friday

blog, trauma

Why this Parkland shooting photo is so painful

Another shooting, another community in grief. I’m not going to repeat the shooter’s name because that what people who do this stuff want. A shooter walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and killed 17 people and injured many others.

Of the many images of the Parkland shooting that emerged, one brought tears to my eyes instantly.

The Associated Press photographer Joel Auerbach took a picture that was truly painful. I saw this picture shared on social media dozens of times on Facebook and Twitter. The photo came up on the news on television. It is being shared over and over.

Why are so many people sharing it?

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blog, Good Friday, Holy Week

How to have a ‘good’ Good Friday

How can Good Friday be good? Good Friday is the day that Christians all around the world remember the suffering of Jesus Christ on a cross.

Depictions of Jesus Christ’s suffering are immortalized within our cultural framework because of such movies as The Passion of the Christ. However, we are not meant to wallow or suffer in the grief of Jesus with torment and pain.

On this day of sadness, we wonder: what is so good about this phrase Good Friday?  There is no clear answer, but the word “good” and “God” were mixed together in the English speaking world.  For instance, the surname “Goodspeed” derives from “Godspeed”, which comes from the expression “God speed (with you)”  The expression, “good bye” came from the phase, “God be with ye (you). 

Despite the origins of the phases, we don’t really feel “good” on Good Friday.

No matter what the origins of the phase, we cannot escape our feelings.  Are we meant to feel guilty and depressed on Good Friday? We don’t feel “good” about Christ suffering.  Are we meant to feel the pressure to be grateful of Jesus’ torment? 

No! We must acknowledge our feelings of grief and loss regarding Jesus’ suffering on Good Friday.  We cannot deny these feelings, nor should we. The stages of grief are real for us as they were for Jesus and his disciples:

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Good Friday, Holy Week

Prayer for Good Friday

Prayer for Good Friday

O Christ, your life was no triumph, you carried a cross; may we walk along the same road as you.

O Christ, by your suffering you learned faithfulness; you became a source of eternal salvation for the whole human race.

O Christ, when threatened you did not retaliate; enable us to forgive to the very end.

O Christ, you see the pain of those who are exiled and abandoned; take their suffering upon yourself.

O Christ, when lies and worries try to separate us from you, your Holy Spirit is always with us.

O Christ, you are the happiness of those who follow you: enable us to live by your trust.

O Christ, our life is hidden with you in God; that is a joy that touches the depths of the soul.

Strengthen us, Eternal God, and we will wait in silence and peace until the light of the Resurrection rises upon us. Amen.

Prayer from Taize

Holy Week

What is so good about Good Friday?

Good Friday?  How about Bad Friday, Black Friday, or Depressing Friday?  If this is the day in which we remember Jesus suffering, bleeding, and dying on the cross, what is so good about it?  The movie, The Passion of the Christ, in many ways, change the way we feel about Christ suffering.  The graphic and bloody movie was a stirring portray of Jesus’ last hours.  For some, Good Friday induces feelings of guilt, depression, and even remorse.  Christians, on this day, truly feel a sense of sadness.

On this day of sadness, we wonder: Where did we get the term “Good Friday?  There is no clear answer, but the word “good” and “God” mixed together in the English speaking world.  For instance, the surname “Goodspeed” derives from “Godspeed”, which comes from the expression “God speed (with you)”  The expression, “good bye” came from the phase, “God be with ye (you).  Despite the origins of the phases, we don’t really feel “good” on Good Friday.

No matter what the origins of the phase comes from we cannot escape our feelings.  Are we meant to feel guilty and depressed on Good Friday? We don’t feel “good” about Christ suffering.  Are we meant to feel the pressure to be grateful of Jesus’ torment?

Christianity Today recently published an article that gives a good take on this day.  John Witvliet explains why we should not punish ourselves:

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