RUNNEMEDE REMEMBERED

Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Isn't it always cloudy or rainy on Good Friday?

I recall a time when I was about 14 or 15 that I was getting ready to go to Good Friday services, which were from noon to 3:00 p.m. The pastor of the Lutheran Church and my father would share the services by reading and discussing the seven last words (sentences) of Christ as he hung on the cross.

I have to say as an ADD child I wasn't really thrilled to be in church again. Sitting still has never been something I do well, if at all. I have to have something moving. Same as when I'm talking. I cannot talk without my hands moving! But back on subject.

Well, by the time I was a teenager I was recognizing certain patterns in the weather, and I commented to my mother about the weather on this particular Friday, as it was raining, once again.

I couldn't recall a Good Friday when the sun was shining at least between the hours of noon and 3:00 p.m. She told me that maybe it was God reminding ME that when his Son died the weather was not sunny, but rather, as the Word says: '...it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.' And it occurred to me that on several of those Fridays the sun would sneak through after the 3:00 p.m. hour.

I took that as a reminder ever since when the weather isn't cheery and sunny on Good Friday. I often wonder what it's like in sunny California or Arizona. Maybe it's only dismal in places where Jesus' death is remembered solemnly on that date of remembrance -- Good Friday.

I won't get into a theological argument about the validity of the date. For me and mine, Jesus was crucified on the date we in this world have chosen to remember his terrible time.

As Christ would say: Think on these things.

ttfn

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too noticed that it always rain in the afternoon on Good Friday in Singapore. Hence I googled and pleasantly surprised to know that the same thing happened where you live. Interesting phenomenon and a strong reminder - His sacrifical love for us.

Judi Hahn said...

Update on this BLOG: I wrote this on Wednesday, I think, and today is Friday, Good Friday, and yep! It's raining!