Good Friday: My childhood rituals
I grew up the son of an evangelical preacher man. But the Holy Spirit was no match for my Adamic nature. Which is why so much of my childhood felt dispiriting — a theme I’ve explored often in The iPINIONS Journal, where this sermon has become an annual tradition.
Most dispiriting was having to endure the same sermon year after year, especially with my father expecting me to be moved by the Holy Spirit every single time.
In fact, by age 10, my mind, body, and soul had grown inured to all those “inspired” sermons from the pulpit. And trust me, if you find yourself parroting them from your pew, your soul is inured too. Only the wife of a bloviating, vainglorious politician could possibly relate.
Saving grace: Easter Monday holiday
I could never disguise the suspended animation that got me through Easter rituals. It stood in stark contrast to the affected countenance others wore — from grief on Good Friday, mourning the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, to joy on Easter Sunday, celebrating His resurrection.
The only thing animating my face was the anticipation of Easter Monday, the first beach holiday of the year in the Caribbean Commonwealth. But oh, the guilt I suffered for replacing religious pathos with such hedonistic anticipation!
Religious guilt and God’s forgiveness
Thank God I figured out, before puberty, that He forgives all. That revelation liberated me to revel guilt-free not just in “sinful” thoughts, but in the diabolical thrill I got from the passion plays we performed every Easter. My role? One of the soldiers flogging Jesus as He crawled to Golgotha.
Which brings me to the essence of my Good Friday sermon. I offer it especially to Christian parents who, like mine, coerce their children into attending every church service.
God will forgive the little children for not getting all worked up each year to pay scripted homage to His Son’s crucifixion and resurrection. He’ll even forgive them for not writhing with the Holy Spirit on cue at revivals.
But it was funny how the only souls that ever seemed to need saving were naughty children, not the hypocritical adults dragging them to church. That alone testifies to the contrived nature of Easter rituals.
Incidentally, we in the Caribbean have always taken our cues from evangelical Christians in America. But they’ve become such lost souls, they make the Israelites wandering in Exodus look like guardian angels.
It’s bad enough they’ve forsaken God to worship a gilded-tower demagogue. But now they’re even denying their own kids healthcare just to buy whatever this MAGA grifter is peddling — from gilded sneakers to fake Bibles.
In any event, odds are the only spirit moving you this Easter is the one beckoning you to watch sports on Sunday or hit the beach on Monday. If so, fear not, God will not strike you down.
And all the people said: Amen.
Passion of the Christ
iPINIONS gets why people wallow in the macabre passions of this season. But honestly, you’d be better off just watching Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ instead.
Because more than any sermon or play, that film evokes genuine funereal emotion — and conveys, in a refreshingly dramatic way, the expiatory significance of these familiar words:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
(The Holy Bible, John 3:16 KJV)
Of wrath and men
The elders of my church damned me to Hell long ago as a “backsliding reprobate.” But that had more to do with their Pharisaic standards than any unpardonable sin I committed.
Frankly, God’s Heavenly Scroll will show that I lived more Christ-like than the Tartuffes who used to bore me to distraction with their sermons.
Besides, He made it abundantly clear: just follow this “Golden Rule”:
Do to others as you would have others do to you.
(Mathew 7:12 KJV)
That’s all you need to make it into Heaven.
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.