The Cross of Jesus in a Pluralistic Society

 

                                                            Crucifixion, 1957, Roy de Maistre

1 Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand:

the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,

a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,

from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.

This morning I listened, briefly, to the CBC Radio Good Friday morning show with the title "Keeping the Faith." I generally applaud the multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary commitment of Canada's national broadcaster, but on the most solemn day in the Christian calendar do I really want to listen to physicians talking about what health care needs right now, as important as the subject is, generally? This evening marks the beginning of Jewish Passover, and Jesus was a Jew. Muslims are in the midst of Ramadan, their meaningful season of fasting and self reflection. So it is understandable that we heard from individuals from these traditions. Yet it occurs to me that the focus could have been the universal themes which come from the particularity of the story of the crucifixion. 

This Good Friday we are living with the weight of a war of oppression waged by a ruthless empire against an innocent neighbour. We continue to be under the pall of a pandemic which has taken the savour from so much of life and killed millions. We hear the stories of suffering and unexpected loss on a daily basis. And we've been warned about the travail of the planet itself, that all Creation is groaning because of the "crucifixion" of our ecosystems. 

I would have been interested in hearing from theologians and philosophers and everyday folk from different backgrounds about their perception of this day. At Christmas I've heard Hindus and Muslims and Jews offer their experience of living within the seasonal conventions of  this society. Why not Good Friday and Easter? And what about Indigenous people who had these traditions imposed upon them as a form of coercion rather than love and liberation? 

Perhaps the rest of the program considered the unusual intersection of Ramadan, Pesach, and Holy Week -- I don't know. We attended Good Friday worship which was meaningful. The message was relevant to the time in which we live and in solidarity with those who suffer. Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would make my stand. 

Image: Corpus of Jesus removed from the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv, #Ukraine, to be stored in a bunker for protection. The last time it was taken out was during World War II. Photo by

@TimLeBerre