While taking in the sad and hopeful tone of this song, listen to the lyrics and meditate on the person of Jesus. Tonight he gave his dearest friends the gift of the Eucharist, and they could not understand what he was trying to say. They would deny him and run away. In Jesus' darkest hour, pleading with God, his friends would fall asleep. Today and tomorrow we see Jesus at both his most human. At the bridge of the song, listen as though Jesus is speaking those words to you: "Why don't you call me, I can save you. Together we'll find a god we can pray to, that will take you by the hand." Jesus can save you. He can help you find a god to pray to - the same One he prayed to in the garden. Jesus has been in the dark place when all friends seem gone or useless and the future is terrifying. I always think of the sorrow in ALW's interpretation of the quote from Luke: "Judas, must you betray me with a kiss?" (JCS) When have you been afraid of the future? When have you been frustrated or betrayed by the people who care about you? When have you denied the truth to live in something more comfortable? What does the gift of the Eucharist mean to you?
*Remember, of course, that Nickel Creek didn't write this song about Holy Thursday. If you try to apply every word with a specific meaning, you'll just confuse yourself. No metaphor is perfect.
It's Good Friday. We're fasting, and giving that money to feed others. We're abstaining from meat in solidarity with those who live without every day. At service today we venerate the cross and chant our intentions. On this day more than most others we connect the death of Jesus with the suffering of the world. Our rituals make the day more present to us. Here we bring our sufferings to the cross. I'm not going to pretend to give the meaning of Christ's suffering or of anyone's suffering in this humble little reflection; there is no way I can give answers. I don't have them. But today, instead of finding distractions or justifications for our pains and deaths and the suffering in our lives and around the world, let's look it in the face. Let's do what Jesus did who could have easily gotten out of a grisly death but decided to face it to make the world better. In the song, JR is making us look. We have created so much to distract us from the dirty, the unpleasant. Every once and a while, we have to embrace the messiness and pain of death. "But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, up front there ought to be a man in black." There's Jesus on the cross, up front, in black, reminding us of those we ignore. How do we distract ourselves from seeing what we need to see? What is the hardest thing to look at for you? What can we do to make it better?
Tonight is our longest, most sacred liturgy. I just had the pleasure of singing in our excellent choir for it. It is full of drama and theatrics and intense spiritual statements of who we are as Christians. Before all that drama, however, is a whole day of waiting. I think of the disciples, confused, afraid, waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Their beloved leader is dead and buried. They are supposed to be in the midst of their holiest of days and yet they cannot enjoy their rituals. For those of us who know the story, we are waiting with baited breath. The day has a feel like the few hours before dawn when darkness and quietness envelops everything. We wait and prepare. The disciples' waiting was filled with fear and uncertainty. Our waiting is full of anticipation. We have waited so long and waded through the dreariness of life to get to the resurrection moment. This kind of waiting takes endurance. "This ain't no place for the weary kind, this ain't no place to loose your mind. This ain't no place to fall behind. Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try." What are you waiting for? What does the resurrection bring you? What is worth waiting for?
My advice? Play the video and dance to the song. Then come back and read this reflection and play the song again. While I struggled picking songs for the Triduum, particularly Friday, this one was a no-brainer. I am inclined just to put the lyrics up here and let you all go. But let's look at the first lines: "Happiness hit her like a train on the track ... no turning back" For the women who went to the tomb they were told their messiah was risen. What an astounding, unbelievable announcement! To be filled with even the strangest hope after everything good died! One of my favorite things about this song is that there is a point when you think it is over. It fades out, there is a pause, and then it starts up rejoicing again. There is a surprise that carries the song further. Today is a surprise of the best kind. Today is Christmas morning and a birthday party and your lover giving you flowers all in one. "The strife is o'er, the battle done!" "The dog days are over! The dog days are all done! The horses are coming so you better run!" And those women, blessed with the message, did run. They ran back to their friends and told them the good news: our Josh is alive! Of course, no one believed them, so they all started to run to find out for themselves. This is good news! Don't walk or crawl to share it! Run! "Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father, run for you children for your sisters and brothers!" Leave it all behind and rejoice as you run! What is worth dancing for? What is worth being excited? How have you been, in the words of C.S. Lewis, surprised by joy?
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