Today, on this third day before our commemoration of Christ’s resurrection, I celebrate His death. I celebrate Him, bleeding and bound to the cross. I celebrate His suffering and His sorrow.
I celebrate these dark things even though I prefer to remember His life and ministry. I celebrate these things because it is through His pain, His blood, and His death that His resurrection and our own come to be. And I look with joy to His return.
Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
-John 15:13
I will be listening to the Bach’s St. Matthew Passion tomorrow. Still need to find a good service somewhere.
When in doubt, go Episcopalian.
When my husband and I had met, but weren’t yet really “dating,” I think, we had a conversation about where we were going. We decided that being friends was good and important.
I will always remember what he wrote about it: “Jesus did not say, ‘Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for those who are just his friends.’”
Our Easter Sac. Mtg was pretty conventional. A High Councilman spoke about Jesus Christ’s ministry. He even went so far as to say he chooses to not remember Christ with a symbol of His death–like Christians do–and that there really is no good symbol for the Living Christ except to look to “the Church.” Since I work professionally closely with Evangelicals that difference is a pretty big celebratory divide between Mormons and Christians.
As for me, I don’t understand why Mormons, on average, are so hesitant to reflect on the sacrificial details of such a sacrifice. I think there is beauty, love and life found in confronting mortality, even in reflecting upon the “mortality” of Jesus. The story can get a little tame through retelling because we all know how the story turns out. (Hey kids, He was dead but he’s not really dead!) Celebrating–as dark as that word choice sounds–the journey, in addition to the outcome, just makes the story more powerful to me.
Any Mormon who thinks Christians are just being too macabre ought to go experience a really well done cantata or Passion play. Such can really be majestic. They celebrate the Living Christ as much as the Dying Christ because you can’t do the former without the latter.
Cheers! I feel positively Gothic.
My local paper, the Detroit News, had a good commentary article about the cross yesterday.
Click here.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/LIFESTYLE04/604160326/-1/ARCHIVE
Just for Quix,
I taught the resurrection to the Sunbeams yesterday. One of the kids got agitated at the idea of Jesus on the cross; another child, seeing this, reassured him with, “Oh, no, it’s okay–they put Him in a room with bricks in the door, but then He felt fine later on. No problem.”
It was perhaps the most succinct explanation of Easter that I have ever heard.
Captain Jack,
Exactly.
In contrast, my ward somehow managed to do an entire sacrament meeting without mentioning Easter. I wondered if any of the many visitors thought is was odd that the speakers talked about obeying the prophet yet skiped over the Resurrection. We did have some Easter hymns, the choir sang, and there was a nice string trio. Just no Crucifixion or Resurrection. I spoke with my daughter in Provo and she said it was the same in her ward. I hope this isn’t a trend.
In my ward we had a full-blown Easter sacrament meeting. No talks really, just a narrator that went throught the events of the last week of Christ’s life with breaks for special musical numbers that related to the events in the story. It was really great. Then my son gave a talk in primary about Easter.
Buck,
Last year, RT and I were in Lima for Easter. Our ward there was fighting an “Easter, or the Restoration of the Church?” battle, with the bishop on the side of the latter and everyone else going for Easter. So the hymns and the Sunday School lessons were completely Easter-focused (the music people and teachers glared pointedly at the bishopric through the meetings), but the bishop had clearly forbidden his counselors and the speakers to so much as mention the Resurrection. He got twitchy if they mentioned Jesus.
It was easily the most rancorous Mormon Sunday I’ve ever spent. The bishop had apparently decided that Easter was an evil Catholic holiday, and that the LDS Church did not celebrate it.
I have known a few US members who had similar, if less developed, views of the holiday. But in all, I’d say we’re swinging in the other direction. Thank goodness.
I am not entirely sure what this site is about, i read the about section, but was still confused with all the big words! I found this on a google search, but wanted to put in a few words.
I just wanted to say that mormons in general to me* don’t seem hesitant to reflect on sacrificial details, as much as we rejoice in the ressurection, being the miraculous and main part of the atonement. And i also feel, that if someone seems skiddish, as i have been in certain settings, that it is because i feel that his sacrifice and suffering are almost personal. When one gains a testimony, they learn things for themselves, and it takes on a meaning that is sacred and not neccesarily conversational… We (and i mean my interpretation) is that we don’t wear crosses because it puts more emphasis on his death and suffereing that any other part of the atonement. If one part was to be celebrated, i think it should be his rebirth and miracles, the miracles he taught and the miracles that make it possible for us to repent.
I hope you don’t think i am trying to put anyone down, i just felt like i could offer a little light?.?
Also, as for the differences in sacrament meetings, i wanted to say that each individual meeting is prepared and planned by very different individuals, who are all trying to follow what they think is best. I don’t they that they always neccesarily choose the best, but i think they have good intentions. I also think its important to remeber that we don’t go to church for the people or the callings or the agenda, as much as to focus on the messages and be obedient to our father in heavan using sunday as a time to refelct and renew. maybe your service didn’t talk about easter, but can you remeber what they did talk about?
Kirsten,
Thanks for commenting - sorry it took me so long to respond.
This year, our ward’s Easter service was one of the best, most Atonement-centered church services I have ever encountered, Mormon or not. It was wonderful.
As for that meeting in Lima: well, the Sacrament speakers talked about the temple, but since the bishop cleared his throat when they got too near Atonement-related themes, the talks were pretty content-free.
Ah, well.