The heart of the matter

Good Friday has a special place in my journey with God.
One of my first memories of church is shuffling forward with the crowd at my mother's Catholic parish, waiting my turn to kiss the feet of the crucifix cradled like a baby in the priest's arms. At my Episcopal high school, we walked in silence to the chapel to hear a solo baritone voice sing "Were you there?" When I came to Christ as a young adult, I went to sit in an empty church on Good Friday because I knew something powerful was happening that day and I needed to be there with Jesus.

I look forward to Easter, but I also treasure this sad and solemn day to remember God's presence in the midst of the worst of human suffering. Good Friday teaches us to see past our illusions to the truth of God's endless love. It promises us that when we hit bottom, God will always be there to lift us up.

Memory and Imagination

At bedtime in my house, we read a lot of the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne. In Christmas in Camelot, an evil wizard has robbed Camelot of its joy. To lift the pall of sadness, our heroes, 8-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister Annie, are sent to a mysterious world to recover the Water of Memory and Imagination. When they drink the water, they break free of the fear and sadness of the present. They remember all the good things in life and the lessons they have learned, and then they imagine a path to a better future.

We are always hearing that we should focus on the present moment. The past and the future are discounted: "Don't dwell on the past," "Don't worry so much about the future." So I was struck by this idea of memory and imagination as the source of joy. The past does not have to drag us down, but can be the source of our wisdom. We don't need to be afraid of the future, but can fill it with our vision of a better life.

Perhaps Lent is a good time to make peace with the past and future, to see them as gifts instead of as burdens. Together they make it possible for us to find joy in the present.