Good Friday

March 30, 2024March 30, 2024 / a samaritan woman / 1 Comment

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. John 3:16-21

The good news of Christianity is that we are forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ; Jesus suffered and died for our sins and rose from the dead.

This is wonderful news!

But…I’ve always had a teeny, tiny problem with this. If God loves us so much, why did God demand a sacrifice to forgive us? That just seems a bit…conditional.

Forgive me if my sick sense of humor wanders into the realm of the near-ridiculous as I can’t help but imagine a hypothetical (and somewhat Monty Python-esque) conversation….

God the Father: Sheesh. LOOK at them, will you? I’ve given them commandments, guidance, a burning bush, manna from heaven, and STILL they screw up. I’m done with humans; they’re all fit for nothing but the burning pit of hell!

God the Son: Oh, come on, they’re not THAT bad. Give them a chance. Maybe eventually they will figure it out.

God the Father: Hm. I don’t know…but maybe I could be persuaded IF they made a big enough sacrifice. But it would have to be big – I’m really not happy about them.

God the Son: I don’t think they are capable of appeasing you. Tell you what – how about I do it for them?

God the Father: Hmmm. Well, let’s see. How about you become one of them? Like, become human.

God the Son: I can do that.

God the Father: And…not in a life where you’d be a crown prince or anything. I know! How about you become…hmmm, how about a carpenter?

God the Son: OK, I’ve always wanted to make things out of wood.

God the Father: You can teach them what they really need to know: How to treat and love one another. I gave them commandments, but they still mess it up. Oh, and throw in some miracles and healings so that they pay attention.

God the Son: I can definitely do that. Hey, how about turning water into wine? That sounds like a good start.

God the Father: But, in order for me to forgive them and bring them home to me, you need to die a horrible, dreadful, painful, excruciating death.

God the Son: Um. Ahhhh, you sure about that? Well. OK, if you insist.

[end of conversation]

Image: Detail of Dali’s Christ of St. John of the Cross, 1951

WAIT! Don’t call me a heretic just yet, but I can’t help but wonder. Permit me to offer an alternative (hypothetical, of course) conversation:

God the Father: I’m upset. I know I gave them free will, but this is getting ridiculous. Look at how my people are behaving!

God the Son: They’re NOT behaving.

God the Father: Exactly my point! I’ve given them commandments, prophets, examples – I mean, look at King David, for Your sake, he sent his best friend off to be killed in battle and still I blessed him. Why don’t they believe I love them? Why don’t they ACT like it?

God the Son: I think it’s called “human nature.”

God the Father: Yes, but I made them in our image and likeness! I set up this glorious world and they keep messing with each other. I just don’t know what to do to show them how much I love them, and how I would LIKE for them to treat each other. They love living in the darkness! They need to see the light!

God the Son: Light… LIGHT! I have an idea! I could go down there…

God the Father: Hmmm, that’s a thought! You could show them how to live, how to love one another, how to forgive…

God the Son: Yes, and add some miracles so they’d pay attention. I am the light of the world, after all.

God the Father: Absolutely. But – they are fickle. How many prophets have they seen doing miracles and issuing warnings? And still they’ve ignored them!

God the Son: Well, I have an idea that goes beyond anything any of the Prophets did. Let them kill me.

God the Father: WHAT?

God the Son: Seriously. They need a really, REALLY BIG example of just how much they are loved. They really won’t believe it any other way. If they think that the ultimate blood sacrifice – me – has been given for the forgiveness of their sins, they’ve got to listen, don’t you think? That would be a real, heavenly, cosmic slap-upside-the-head!

God the Father: Hm. Wow. You know, that’s really not necessary for us to forgive them, but –

God the Son: I know. We’re going to love them no matter what, and do everything possible to get them all home to heaven one day, some way. But this will be a shortcut. If they follow me, they are following God. If they look at how I live and see me as an example, follow me and accept my sacrifice, they will be bringing home the Kingdom of Heaven on earth!

God the Father: You know, this could be a way to bring all of my creation into my fold – not just the children of Israel.

God the Son: Can you think of a better way to show them that God suffers with them? Like, right along WITH them, when they suffer?

God the Father: No, I can’t. But…are you sure you want to do this? You know I don’t require anything to love and forgive humanity; but I want them to realize how much they are loved, and for them to show and live that love. Doing it like this will wake them up…but…it’s gonna be bloody. And really, really painful. Those Romans are a real piece of work. Sometimes I wonder if the whole free will idea was a mistake…

God the Son: Well, you said yourself how off track they are. They have ignored the commandments and have been hurting each other. And the Romans are bad enough – and what about those Pharisees and Saducees? They’ve missed the point! Anyway, do you think the people would pay attention to anything less than a really, really BIG sacrifice?

God the Father: Good point. But you know…seeing the Son of God die a horrible death can’t be the end of the story.

God the Son: We’re thinking the same thing —

God the Father: Well, of course – we ARE God, after all! After you’re “dead” and “buried,” you’ll come back to life! Resurrection!

God the Son: Yes! Their bodies die, but they’re not sure about what happens after that. I can show them that death and sin are conquered. Rising from the dead? They’ve GOT to pay attention to THAT! That will show them that through me, they have life eternal.

God the Father: Perfect. If this doesn’t wake them up, I don’t know what will.

God the Son: One last thing: In the Torah, there are a LOT of commandments. Maybe we could just…simplify it. You know, love God and love your neighbor. They do have short attention spans.

God the Father: You’re right. I always have had fun with Words…. Let’s get the Holy Spirit in on this plan and get started.

~~~~~~~~~

So, there you have it. This might raise an uncomfortable question: Did Jesus have to die?

We’re so used to saying yes, He had to die for our sins!

But wait – did Jesus have to die because God the Father demanded a sacrifice? Was it atonement?

Or did he have to die because we humans just would not believe or accept God’s love for us any other way?

You decide.

*disclaimer: The warped theology presented here is purely the musing of this author and not to be interpreted as any official stance produced from her Jesuit education (it’s not completely their fault I’m a bit heretical), Catholic school studies or 30 + years in the Episcopal church.

Alleluia!

April 4, 2021 / a samaritan woman / 1 Comment

This is the second Easter of CoVid. How strange it feels. Last year, we understood the need for being locked down. Besides, it was only to be for a few weeks. But a year later, we still aren’t doing the usual Easter things today; no vigil service in the early morning. Easter egg hunts for children – at least public ones – are few and far between. Everything is curtailed, muffled, depressed and suppressed.

In CoVid Year 2, we need Easter more than ever. But then, we always need Easter. Right now, the message of Easter – salvation and the eternal, fierce, unending love of God – is more necessary to our psyches and souls than I can ever remember.

We are a world in uproar; a nation divided by many foolish, superficial things. “How can the saving of human lives be foolish and superficial?!” you may ask? It’s not, and I’m not referring to masks and lockdowns etc. Besides, the saving of lives is never superficial. What IS superficial is where our focus lies. This is no political commentary; rather, I believe we would all be better off if we were to focus on something other than fear, division, who feels insulted and “offended”, what someone’s preferred pronouns are – and instead focus on the promise of Easter, which is open to all of humankind, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, gender, and so on.

For those who might cry “enough of prayer and talk, we need action!” I would ask what greater action could there possibly be than a loving God who gave humankind the greatest gift imaginable?

To simplify (greatly), can you imagine this loving God saying “how can I POSSIBLY make these people understand how much I love them?!? And how much I want them to know me, to join me in heaven to be with me forever? Ah! I know, I will send my own son to earth. Maybe HE can get it through their thick skulls. I will ask him to do whatever it takes to make them realize my love.”

Jesus did whatever it took. That, my friend, is action.

Yet we divert our attention away from the most amazing, freeing, incredible gift in the history of humanity and stand around quibbling about…oh, I don’t know, the correct amount of social distancing at the Easter egg hunt?

The gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is the miracle of Easter, and the core belief of Christianity. It doesn’t matter what Christian tradition you follow, and it doesn’t matter what you read and study as “Science.” It really doesn’t. None of us gets out of here alive in body, but through the love and sacrifice of Christ, we can all get out of here alive…forever. With a God that loves us beyond all understanding. Isn’t that a relief? Isn’t that something you’d rather focus on? We cannot seek the living among the dead, and never forget that the strife and division that we see daily in our country and in the world is death to the spirit.

The cross is empty. The tomb is empty. Alleluia! The Lord is risen!

Another Easter post you may enjoy is from 2017: The Gift of Skepticism.

Mary Magdalene: Friend

July 22, 2016July 28, 2016 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

A couple of days ago I wrote about The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, a part of which was discovered in the late 1800s and eventually translated and published.

Today I consider what has been included in the New Testament about her, and a couple of comments about her two-centuries-old case of identity theft.

– She was a follower of Jesus.
– Jesus healed her – of exactly what, we don’t know. We are told that 7 demons were cast out of her.
– She was a woman of means, and helped to fund Jesus’ ministry as she and other women followed Jesus as disciples. I can only imagine that she was very much her own person, as following an itinerant preacher wasn’t something that was common for women of that time and culture.
– She was present when Jesus died. As it was dangerous for anyone to be known to associate with a political criminal, she was risking death by stoning, as were the other women present.
– She was first to witness the risen Christ.
– Jesus commissioned her as apostle when he said “go and tell the others.” While the Samaritan woman at the well went out and told people that Jesus was the messiah, it was Mary Magdalene who was first witness to the event that was the actual genesis of the Christian church: The Resurrection.
– She obviously loved Jesus deeply, and was a trusted disciple, companion and friend.

by Antiveduto Gramatica.

Oh, and she wasn’t a prostitute. Hollywood loves to cast her as such, and artists often depict her as a penitent sinner. (And often as a blonde. Hello?) Well, we all sin. We all “miss the mark,” and if you hang out with Jesus, then or now, you get to where you want to be like Christ, and when you goof, you’re truly sorry for your screwups. You want forgiveness, and there is joy in knowing that you are forgiven and loved.

Mary Magdalene was a friend, a confidante, a disciple, and someone who helped to empower the ministry. As one of Jesus’ most faithful disciples, she has been inspiration for Women at the Well. She has also inspired me to read more, look deeper, and to wonder.

St. Mary Magdalene by Pietro Perugino

I recently discovered an amazing group of women in my area who meet weekly for prayer, meditation, and learning. My finding them (or their finding me) was true synchronicity. I met Lyn at a retreat at the Red Shoes in Baton Rouge. After finding we were both from the same area, she invited me to the weekly gatherings of the Sacred Circle at her home. I gladly and joyfully accepted.

We met last week to celebrate Mary Magdalene, and Lyn asked me if I had a song from Women at the Well or otherwise that was appropriate. I did. It was a song that came out of my wondering what this close friend to Jesus might have felt when he went to Gesthemane to pray. Did she have a feeling that something bad was going to happen there? Was her intuition on fire, screaming “don’t go!” Did she share that with him? This is a song about her own struggle with letting him go, and here are the lyrics:

Why this talk of going, why this talk about your death?
No matter where you are I’ll love you ‘til my parting breath.
you know they’re coming, steal away tonight
know how we love you, don’t leave without a fight
There was joy in the city, now hate is being bred
there’s talk in the streets how they want you dead,
you have blessed us, you are God’s true light
But how will you save us when you must take flight?

Run from the garden gates, run from the garden gates; run from the garden…

You walk in the garden, you leave us behind
you go with your companions–are you looking for a sign?
Watch out for the soldiers, they could find you there
Something’s telling me that betrayal’s in the air…
Why are they so fearful of the things you’ve done?
Is it really here– has the nightmare begun?
They don’t believe that you are God’s true light
I beg you, save yourself, that I may walk with you tonight–

Run from the garden gates, run from the garden gates; run from the garden…

   You’re all alone, I feel your fear
   You will not run yet I need you here
   There’s something there – greater than my love
   that’s pulling you, that’s tearing you, that’s tearing me.

Why must you be going? why must you die now?
You say there’s a reason, I can’t see how–
I fear they are coming, to take you tonight
I know of your grief yet you’ll go without fight
A lamb led to the slaughter– I do not understand
And still you tell me trust it’s God’s hand
I look at your face and see God’s true light
As you walk into terror and face it in spite

   of the sorrow ahead, the passion and pain
   a criminal’s death, and what is the gain?
   You say to have faith that on the 3rd morn
   it all will be clear your new life will be born

I’ll stand by the garden gates, Stand by the garden gates
Wait by the garden…
I’ll stand by the garden gates, stand by the garden gates
Wait by the garden…Gesthemane. from Women at the Well ~© Brenda D. Lowry

What does a true friend do? In the end, she realized that Jesus was called to do what he had to do – and then sings that she will stand by him, no matter what.

One group member told me later that she thought of the wives of the police officers who were recently killed in Dallas. Did any of them have an inkling of what was to happen that day? We thought of the spouses, families and friends of those who serve as first responders, and of those who serve our country in the armed forces. Anything can happen, and yet these people “stand by the garden gate” while someone they love does what they are called to do.

Love means putting another’s needs before your own. Mary Magdalene put Jesus’ call before her own fears and stood by, lending her strength with her love and belief in him. Celebrate her feast day – today, July 22 – by supporting someone you love in their call.