good friday

Yes, I am aware that Good Friday was last week, and it's not like I'm trying to live again Jesus' crucifixion.

But this poem—I like this poem. It was printed in the bulletin {or to be fancy, Order of Service} for the Good Friday service last week, and I have been re-reading it throughout this week.

As I mentioned on Palm Sunday, I enjoy—probably not the correct word here—Holy Week because it helps guide me through emotions. You wouldn't think I would need help with emotions about the death and resurrection; it seems like there should be plenty in there to cling to.

But it can all become so rote, so known, so accepted. After all, I celebrate his death and resurrection every week, and as someone raised in the church, I can easily, I must admit, gloss over the shocking details that form the heart of faith.

Sometimes, I stand in front of the cross and think the very same thing as Christina Rossetti in this poem: "Am I a stone... / that I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross... / And yet not weep?"

Good Friday
Christina Rossetti

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon--
I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

accomplishments

A quote for the day {or, in truth, for many days}:

It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.
{President Truman, smart man that he was}

This quote should be printed in every board room, on the doorframe of every CEO's office, on cubicle walls, and in break rooms.

We, as a working people, tend to preen. We point out what we've done well; we draw attention to ourselves and those to-do lists and all our checkmarks.

We are peacocks when perhaps we should be more like peahens, and I, for one. need to remember that this life isn't about accomplishments and accolades and having my name tied to all of those.

Not that I know what this life is all about, but for today, Harry's words {we're on a first-name basis since I went to a school named after him} are humbling and good for me to remember.