Good Friday

Subject: Good Friday.

Good Friday. What, if anything does it mean to you and why on earth is it called Good Friday when it foretells the crucifixion of Christ  on Sunday. It's part of the anomaly that religion projects, irrespective of the particular faith. 
The bible, especially the Old Testament is at times contradictory to the Christian ethic of love thy fellow man.  The Quran is also full of contradiction, sometimes full of spite and vengeance, sometimes full of care.
These faiths which are based on the Abrahamic interpretation  of god, a father figure who deals out both paternal and patriarchal governance, based on ethical rules which interpret human beings as intrinsically good and willing to cooperate towards societal well being. 
The driver, your life on Earth and the way you define those around you as having equal worth, is as good as it gets since it equates everyone with ourselves as brothers and sisters. It identifies cooperation as being the highest ideal even if love is not sufficient.
The Seventh Day Adventist and the Mormon exhibit an overt willingness to put themselves out in their journey, offering  that special interpretation of their faith, always seemingly nice people, suffused with smiles and cheerfulness, knocking on doors, often to a hostile reception  and yet stalwart in their mission to see others in the best light.
In our secular society we miss the camaraderie of this communion of people. We miss the warmth of the faithful doing their homage, a recognition to a god who their faith tells them cares for each one individually and collectively.

This morning I listened to a verse of a hymn which I remembered as if it was yesterday from my early childhood days in the village church. It was a song of hope and simple comprehension about the world and its impact on our personal lives. Sung in a cathedral it had the hypnotic ringing reverberation that large enclosed spaces contrive, the choir and the congregation opening their voices to sing with a gusto that only Arms Park can generate when the arch foe England take to the pitch.
The joy of an evangelical congregation, the hand clapping and the body sway, each emphasising the collective love they feel, coming together to devote themselves to a power that lies outside their control.
Mankind has always seen magic in the unknown. The unanswerable is answered by the  simplicity of a family on earth and in heaven. The formality of the elemental structure which comes from belief is what matters to them and no amount of pondering why they should call it Good Friday will make any difference.