Good Friday (for Dad)

It seems like a misnomer

at first,

or a bit of black humor…

“Good” Friday….

the day when betrayal

came with a kiss;

the day when the seconds were marked

by whip-cracks,

and hammers tolled

like bells;

the day that clouds closed

like eyelids over a dying sun;

the day the earth shook

as if in a sieve.

And now

(as if it wasn’t

“good”

enough already),

it is also the day

you died.

A tomb sealed with a stone…

A coffin nailed shut…

A grave covered with dirt…

The good news is

this is as dark as it gets.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).  

Arise Beautiful One

My lover spoke and said to me,
“I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God
and those who hear will live.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
For as the Father has life in himself,
so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live.
Arise, come my darling;my beautiful one, come with me.”

(SOS 2:10-13; John 5:25, 26; 11:25)