Holy Thursday

Mild weather is here 😀  I hope that there’s rain tomorrow, as rain on Good Friday is supposed to mean a good crop yield in the summer.  I don’t know where that originated, but I had been told that by an elderly parishioner many years ago on a very wet Good Friday.  It’s different in the Caribbean, but here it’s apparently linked to enough rain for the crops!  Yesterday the little dog got groomed — there’s a lot less of him since his thick, shaggy winter coat is all gone.  He’s an affectionate little guy again, and his legs seem to have extended further!  He looks like a mini-greyhound right now.  The groomer nicked him just above his eye, but the vet checked him over and he’s ok.  He’s burrowed under the blanket and is snuggling up to Don who’s watching the opening game of baseball season.  Can anyone explain to me how you can have a “World Series” award when only one country plays in it?  I mean, in a sensible game like cricket, when there’s an international it’s literally between different countries, often separated by thousands of kilometres and there are differences in the teams’ approach to the game.  Baseball is one country, and seems endlessly dull… 

I slept very well again, thankfully.  I was woken up this morning by the sound of construction before 5am, which I think is inhumane!  I fell asleep when they stopped a little after 6, and got a couple more hours.  I had a decent lunch, with leftovers for dinner that can’t carry over to tomorrow, as it’s a day of fasting.  I don’t observe a strict fast (I claim illness) but I’ll be eating fish.  I’m hoping to get enough energy to cook a couple of traditional items, like coocoo and lentils.  I finally got a support worker today — my regular person is out of hospital, but is off until next week as she recovers, and the agency seems to have overlooked me all week.  So the worker came today, and I am remarkably grateful for that.

Easter is this weekend; I’m still wrapping my mind around that, as it seems that Ash Wednesday was just a few days ago, instead of 6 weeks past!  Tonight starts the holiest period for Christians, with the Mass beginning tonight, continuing tomorrow and concluding on Saturday evening; it’s a period called the Triduum (three days) where we commemorate Jesus’ last days, beginning with the Last Supper tonight, the betrayal by Judas, the trials by Herod and Pilate, the crucifixion and death and then the resurrection on Sunday morning.  I always loved this period, even though it meant being in church practically all weekend from about 6pm tonight until early morning Mass on Sunday.  I have many fond memories of us dramatizing the Way of the Cross with the other teens and youth of the parish on Good Friday morning.  

I have read several stories, especially some dreadfully maudlin 18th and 19th century ones, about this week, and I find that my soul curdles in horror and disgust at the sentiments expressed.  On the one hand, are those which focus on the violence, brutality and abuse heaped upon Jesus, as if that’s the most important thing.  If it were, I think that as humans we’d have turned away from many forms of brutal punishments that have been used over the centuries.  On the other, there’s over sentimentality with angels weeping and heaven being torn apart by these actions.  I don’t like either approach, and tend to prefer to contemplate the human responses that we see.  From Peter’s denial of Jesus for fear of being condemned; John’s attendance at the trial by the Sanhedrin; Judas’ despair and suicide and the fear of the disciples, there’s a lot for us to learn about ourselves and how we react in a crisis.  None of us can imagine death, but can we accept pain and suffering on behalf of others?  Odds are not, but we certainly should consider where we fit with the other disciples, those who screamed for the blood of an innocent man, thieves who were condemned alongside him and those who enjoy the macabre sight of seeing people publicly executed.

I’ll stop here; it’s enough for one day and probably too much for the non-Christian, non-religious of my friends.  I’ve got a gorgeous poem by Tagore to share later on, I hope that you’ll appreciate the sentiments when I do.  Off to have dinner now, and cuddle a little shorn puppy.  Good night!