Monday, April 1, 2013

Why I did not go to church on Good Friday

I spent the majority of my growing-up years in churches where, if you loved Jesus, you showed up "every time the doors were open."  If there was a service, you were there with a smile pasted on your face and a Bible under your arm.  Let's just say: it was a policy aimed at quantity rather than quality.

Now that I'm Anglican, I've learned a whole new way to look at church.  Holy Week always trips me up though -- so many services, each beautiful in its own way.  Shouldn't I show just because it's a good thing to do?

Alas, good things are not always holy things, and finding God is no quadratic equation.

This year I found myself wondering about attending a Good Friday service.  You see, very cold temperatures (at least for Florida) early in the week had derailed my plans for planting my garden during spring break.  I still had many plants sitting meekly around my flower beds, waiting for their turns to be buried in the now-warm soil.

So it was a choice -- gardens or church?

And I thought, surely this is not really a choice.  If I love Jesus, won't I choose church?  (Old ways of thinking cling like dead leaves to bare branches.)

There was a whisper -- "Plant the garden."

So I did.  First time missing church on a Good Friday since I had Good Friday church to go to.

As I dug deep, pulling out old roots to make room for new ones to grow, I thought, "This is Good Friday."  Not all liturgy is words.  Holiness is not locked within four walls.

That is why I did not go to church on Good Friday.

--Sarah

3 comments:

Rehoboth said...

How is it that we come to similar conclusions around the same time? Beautifully written, and gratefully received.

living stones said...

Oh, Sarah,

Amazing how creatively God reveals his truth; "Not all liturgy is words. Holiness is not locked within four walls."

I'm so glad you were able to hear the whisper, "Plant the garden."

Thanks and blessings,

Anna

RC said...

Sarah, I love this! Choosing the genuinely spiritual over the "obvious" merely religious choice. It's a good lesson for us all. I am so grateful that we share this kind of spirituality.
--Rickey

Blog Archive