R invited me to a church's Good Friday service in West Newton.
It was almost surreal being inside the chapel. Not only did the church have that old look to it, there were candles and the stained glass windows that added to the effect. Walking to the pews, soft music filled my ears. In the dimly lit chapel, I could make out 3 cellos, an oboe, a flute, and a harpsichord. The service was entitled Jeremiah's Lamentations and a man and a woman traded off singing in a foreign language that I thought was either German or Latin. The music was absolutely beautiful. In between songs, the pastor would get up and speak to the congregation. I would like to include some of what he read taken from the book of Isaiah, chapter 53. Pay special attention to the wording as it is not King James Version.He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
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.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
The question crossed my mind, 'Why don't we as Mormons join with mainstream Christianity in honoring and revering this special day?' I'm familiar with some of the standard answers. First off, there are a lot of false traditions that detract from coming to Christ. I've heard of weird reenactments of Christ's crucifixion and also overly focusing on Christ's death. But in the United Church of Christ, there was nothing morbid or unpleasant. In fact, it gave me more of an appreciation for what Christ did for humankind.
The second reason we Mormons don't celebrate Good Friday is probably because we like to instead focus on the happy part - the resurrection. While I see the logic in this, I also see several weaknesses: First off, by implying that we don't celebrate all the other holidays in Holy Week in favor of the climactic holiday, Easter, you would think that there would be a climactic celebration. However, my experience is that Easter is just like any other Sunday. So if we are going to say that we don't celebrate Good Friday in favor of celebrating Easter, then when Easter rolls around, we should really celebrate it. Secondly, I think the more often you can be touched by Christ, the better you are. I feel like we wouldn't be worse off as a church if we spent more time thinking about Christ and what He did for us. Thirdly, remembering the death does not mean we have to become too preoccupied with it. Indeed, it can make celebrating the resurrection that much sweeter when we realize that there was a Friday that was necessary for Sunday to come. Leo Tolstoy made the distinction in his later years how one can know if a work of literature is Christian. Whether it be happy or sad, if the work brings you closer Christ, it is Christian. I feel this standard applies to all art. I felt like this service definitely drew me closer to God as I thought about and pondered Christ. Fourthly, overlooking this holiday (and not even knowing what the flipping holiday is) makes us appear less-Christian to others.
In conclusion, I think it would be good to celebrate Good Friday in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church has been making a push lately to stress that it is Christian. Wouldn't celebrating Holy Week help in this regard? Also, wouldn't it help us think about what Christ did for us? I think so.
11 comments:
I agree!
I am surprised you never heard of Good Friday before this year... what about Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday? Sometimes I think we don't celebrate as many holidays etc as other religions because there is so much focus on the holiday rather than the reason for the holiday... does that make sense? Of course, thats a personal issue that is a problem no matter what your religion, but still...
I agree with lil renny. Although I love holidays more than most people can even imagine, I think having more holidays could take away from the reason for having them.
On the other hand I am all for participating in other religions holidays. I think it helps you understand other people and cultures better and can also help you have a greater understanding of your own religion. Hence why I love going to passover dinner and participating in Lent.
I think lil renny and I should be friends. We can start out with a good game of Mastermind!
Much of what is celebrated or not is due to traditions that were passed down to us from our families. I notice that back home in Seattle, nobody ever gets Good Friday off. But tons of schools etc do here. Much of THAT is because of the countries that the large majority of the population on the east coast came from. The influence of a European world on this coast is still in effect to this day, impacting the holiday schedule, what sports are celebrated and watched, how much people work, what people generally do after work, etc, etc. In the West there is a different influence and attitude. So I think it's important to distinguish the influence of cultural and familial trends from the influence of the Church. In my family, for instance, Easter is a pretty big deal. One thing I love about the Church is that it is a framework wherein we can serve each other, learn from each other, and support our families in the teaching and application of the doctrine of Christ. So I think the celebration of holidays and how it is done is left much more to the individual and the family and not dictated by the councils of the Church, which I appreciate. I love the room and encouragement to worship how, where, and what I may, and to do it in a way that is appropriate for me and for my family, grounded in true principles. As Joseph Smith said, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves" (quoted by John Taylor in "The Organization of the Church," Millennial Star 13, no. 22 [15 November 1851]: 339). So if we want to observe Good Friday, we can. Do what you will to bring you closer to Christ. We are agents unto ourselves. Awesome!
Taryn, I do think you would be great friends with lil renny. When you guys play Mastermind, though, you need to invite me! It'll be FUN. I guess I agree with what everyone said about not getting too into the other holidays because they have all sorts of cultural strings attached. But I'm just wondering why the Mormon Tabernacle Choir can't do some sort of a performance on Friday or have some devotional of that sort on Easter so that it's at least a little more special than any other Sunday. True, we can do it on our own, but still, that's a slippery slope argument. If that were the case then why do we have a Christmas devotional and first presidency message??
Love that you blogged about the experience and took the time to look up the non-King James but absolutely incredible Isaiah passage. It's so poetic, so powerful, even in its almost colloquial Americanized English language.
Thomas Tallis was the original composer of the Lamentations of Jeremiah... but they were popularized in the 16th century not only in the Latin he wrote them in, but with other composers-- Franco-Flemish, Spanish, and Italian. There are also 20th century versions in German and Spanish. Perhaps it had multiple languages?
Agreed!
The thing to remember about how we celebrate what the Savior has done for us is that we don't wait until Lent to give up our sins, we try to do it everyday. We exercise our faith in the atonement every day, through our repentance. Each week we celbrate what He did for us as we partake of the Sacrament. Sometimes, making everything a holiday can become a form of idolatry rather than keeping the event we are celebrating sacred. Easter celebrates an event that happened, the resurrection, that will happen once to each of us. Good Friday is about something that we should be taking advantage of on a daily basis. Many other religions believe that you can repent once and be saved or do some sort of simple confession or recite something and be done with it. Lent is about giving something up for a little while. But, we know that the path to perfection is a life long process.
Beautiful thoughts, Trent. I attended an Easter Vigil this year on the evening before Easter, and it definitely focused me and put me in a more reflective mood for the actual Easter holiday.
anonymous (2nd one): I would be careful about speaking so critically of other people's religions. We are all doing the best we can. Please do not assume that those of the LDS faith hold the monopoly on self-improvement and striving to be Christlike.
I'm gonna have to side with The Dancing Newt on this one. The problem with your argument Anonymous is that it is too ideal. If we humans were completely logical and robotic, we could be sustained by the same thing every week. However, we often times need something special to touch us in a certain way. I think that's why we have a special Christmas Devotional each year and a whole sacrament meeting devoted to Christmas. If we do it for Christmas, why not for Easter?
Oooh, an Easter devotional. I think that would be sweet.
And congrats on law school!
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