For us clergy types (and many committed laypeople), Holy Week is the busiest, most stressful, and easily most emotional week of the year. I have always thought that if we take the week seriously and walked through the days with purpose, our whole understanding of our faith will change dramatically. From the hoopla of Palm Sunday to the dichotomy of Holy Thursday (the disciples expecting one thing and Jesus doing the opposite) to the despair of Good Friday to the joy of Easter, there are no other times in the Christian year that are quite so tumultuous and meaningful. Unfortunately, most Christians don’t attend services on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, so they miss a lot of the meat of our faith. Especially Good Friday – it is a tough one.
In the church I grew up in, I don’t remember attending HT and GF services. This was mostly because my parents weren’t religious and rarely got to church themselves; that is, until my mom became our organist – then she had to show up. I learned about Good Friday from the few Catholic friends I had, but I also knew of it because almost everything was closed. As I got older, I began to wonder why this was the case; what was it about Good Friday that made it so important that even the mail didn’t get delivered? While GF as a day off isn’t as widespread as it used to be, it is still a state holiday in 12 states, as well as many countries with large or predominantly Catholic populations. NASDAQ and the NY Stock Exchange are also closed. It is a vestige of a quieter version of Christian Nationalism.
This country has changed a lot since the 1960s, and I hear the complaints all the time. Most churches blame Sunday morning sports programs on the demise of the church, which is partly true, but what is also true is that Jews and Muslims (and others) have been dealing with secularism competing with worship times for as long as they have existed (Friday Night Football, for example). There has always been a preference towards Christian Holy Days being holidays off – like Christmas, for one – but try to convince a school superintendent that the Jewish High Holy Days should be given as days off and you will get the proverbial “deer in the headlights” look. I know because I have, with our local Rabbi, seen that look first-hand. And sure, there are limits to how many holy days one can put into the school calendar, so here’s an idea – how about setting breaks based on educational value rather than preference of one religion over all others? Sure – that’ll happen.
All this is to say that our current struggle with the hyper-aggressive proponents of Christian Nationalism is, in many ways, a backlash by Christians, who used to have advantages, seeing them taken away. For the first time, Christians are being treated like everyone else, and most of them don’t like it. That is how privilege works; if you don’t think it exists, you are probably its beneficiary. We live in an increasingly secular country that is based on the rule of law, not on the Bible or any other Scripture. I for one, have welcomed this shift; for the first time, I know that the people who are involved in church have chosen to be there. When there was nothing else going on, it was easy to go to church. We even had laws – called Blue, for some reason – to support our dominance. Now, we have to prioritize. Now, we have to choose. So, thank you to those of you who choose to be part of the faith community in a meaningful way. You make the world a better place with your faithfulness.
Prayer – Holy God, help us to use our brains to think objectively and choose wisely as we serve You and the world. Amen.
Today’s art is “Dappled Heart” by Stuart Valentine-Rambridge.