Simple Moodlings \'sim-pѳl 'mϋd-ѳl-ings\ n: 1. modest meanderings of the mind about living simply and with less ecological impact; 2. "long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering" (Brenda Ueland) of the written kind; 3. spiritual odds and ends inspired by life, scripture, and the thoughts of others
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this is a busy week for me. And the two things shared below are a big part of that busyness. I highly recommend setting aside your usual Good Friday practices and joining us!
The first is a good ecumenical reflection on where Christ is being crucified in our world today. The second is a beautiful, musical and meditative prayer (with the music of the Taizé community in France) that invites us all to center ourselves in prayer for the world. Neither of them are your typical Good Friday church experience -- but if we are followers of Jesus, we can take our faith to the streets and pray with people of all faith backgrounds. After all, he included all of us.
I will be attending both events. If you're in the Edmonton area, it would be lovely to see you there!
Please consider this an invitation to join us for these two in-person Good Friday events, the first since the pandemic began:
The Outdoor Way of the Cross is an ecumenical prayer event marking the suffering and death of Jesus. It is a time to reflect on how the gospel values of Jesus apply to individual and public life today. This year's theme is based on Micah 6:8 -- "And what does God require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
People of all faith traditions are welcome. The 2 km walk is reasonable for most ages and ability levels. Free street parking is available near the start location. Light refreshments will be provided at Hope Mission after the final station.
For more information, search "Good Friday Outdoor Way of the Cross Edmonton," or use this link.
Good Friday Prayer Around the Cross is an ecumenical and musical evening of meditation with scripture, silence, and the songs of the Taizé Community, much like what happens in the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé, France, every Friday evening. It's an opportunity to allow beautiful, meditative music to wash over us and bring us to peace, to remember that Christ knows what it is to be human, and to understand that God accompanies each of us in our own struggles as we look forward to resurrection for ourselves and all of creation.
If you are able, please join me in prayer and reflection this Good Friday Evening at 7 pm Mountain Standard Time. Christians from all denominations are welcome to pray in this ecumenical prayer that includes scripture, song, and ten minutes of silence. It's the silence that I particularly love, and knowing that I am not alone in it, that there are other people praying with me.
Every life is touched by suffering, and Good Friday is the day when Christ shows us how to suffer, and how to love beyond suffering. Tonight's scripture will be proclaimed in English, French, and Ukrainian, and we will sing of the mystery of Good Friday in a few different languages using chants from the Taize Community.
All are welcome. Please share this livestreamed event with your friends -- praying together, even online and at a distance, is a powerful thing. If the 7 p.m. timeslot doesn't work for you, the video will be available for at least 24 hours.
This second Holy Week during pandemic times seems a bit more organized than last year's. The world community has a better sense of how the corona virus spreads, and with vaccinations becoming more available, it feels like we are moving one step at a time toward the bright end of the tunnel. But we still can't gather together for Easter events like we used to, and I don't think AHS will allow anyone in our churches to sing the Exsultet Proclamation -- the wonderful song exulting in Christ's triumph over death. Not yet, especially with variant cases on the rise.
But I fully intend to sing and celebrate this weekend, even if it's only at home. And I invite you to join me in the two usual ecumenical Good Friday opportunities I like to share each year.
The first is the 41st Annual Edmonton Outdoor Way of the Cross, my favourite ecumenical event of the year. Last year, it was hurriedly switched from outdoor walk to video format when health restrictions came into effect. The organizing committee learned many things about making socially distanced videos on busy streets in the inner city, not least of which was that the video camera microphone picked up city noise more easily than the voices of the presenters!
This year, aware that our ecumenical community still wouldn't be able to gather for the traditional inner city walk, the committee had a bit more time to plan a different approach toward sharing social justice topics of concern and the ways that Christ walks in solidarity with us as we work for change. The 2021 video will premiere at 10 am on Good Friday morning, and its theme is "From Fear and Fatigue to Hope and Action: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me." It will also be available to watch on the Good Friday Outdoor Way of the Cross Edmonton website and on the Facebook Page, but the video below should work at 10 am on Friday.
The second event is the Ecumenical Good Friday Prayer Around the Cross, a musical and meditative space that will feature scripture, silence, and the songs of the Taizé community. When we were able to gather, this was my other favourite ecumenical event of the year, usually held in the lovely chapel at Providence Renewal Centre with a good-sized crowd. This year's comes to you from my home -- I am very grateful that the Brothers of the Community of Taizé have given me permission to broadcast their music and style of prayer to those who have prayed with our Taizé musicians' group here in Edmonton in the past. The prayer begins at 7 pm April 2nd and will last about an hour. It can be found on the Taizé Prayer in Edmonton and Area Facebook Page, and if you click this link, it should take you directly to the event livestream itself:
For those unable to participate during the livestream, a video will be made available on the Facebook Page for viewing when the livestream concludes.
All are welcome to both online events, and the beauty of it all is that people with internet access can join us from almost anywhere that internet access is available, so it's not just us locals who get to enjoy them. Feel free to share this post with others and spread the word.
Come, sing and pray with me... and have a blessed Easter!
I remember dreading Good Friday when I was a kid. Such a heavy, heavy day, with that long story of Jesus' ordeal before he died, and that sad song asking, "Were you there?" To me, it was overwhelmingly sad that a good man had to die, supposedly to atone for my sins. I think it was the guilt complex that came with Good Friday that made it so difficult. I mean, was the fact that I fought with my sisters really why Jesus had to die?
But I was missing the point. Jesus came to show us how to live, even in the most impossible circumstances. He was all about love and forgiveness, right to his death, when he said, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).
Even so, I'm still not a huge fan of the traditional three o'clock Good Friday service. That's why I offer alternative possibilities for Good Friday observance in these moodlings every year -- ones that are focused less on the reading of the Gospel narrative of the passion, and more on the hope that Jesus gives all people by the way he surrenders himself to God. His deep trust in God and his solidarity with us in the most difficult of human struggles is meant to give us hope and courage. So for the last several years, I have been attending two different Good Friday events that offer slightly different slants on Christ's death. If you've been following my moodlings for a while, you know where I'm going with this...
The first event is the Edmonton Outdoor Way of the Cross. It's an ecumenical event that begins at 10 am outside of Immigration Hall on the corner of 100th Street and 105th Ave. If the weather holds (the present forecast indicates snow and cool weather, so it's important to dress for it), we will walk an easy two-kilometer route, ending a block from where we began. There will be several stations where the crowd will gather to listen to reflections on the theme of "Speaking Truth to Power." As we follow the cross through the inner city, we are challenged to become Christ's hands and feet on the day we remember that his were nailed to the cross -- we are all called to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly like he did.
The second event is Ecumenical Prayer Around the Cross in the style of Taizé at the beautiful main chapel in Providence Renewal Centre (3005 119 Street) at 7 p.m. It's a little longer than an hour of meditative reflection with silence, a short passage from the Gospel, prayers of the gathered community, and a lot of beautiful music that calms and quiets the soul so that God can be heard.
Both events are free, though donations to Hope Mission are welcomed after the Way of the Cross. The free-will offering collected at the evening Ecumenical Prayer will be divided between Wings of Providence Women's Shelter and the Anawim Food Bank -- two charities associated with the Sisters of Providence, who are hosting the evening prayer.
However you choose to observe Good Friday, I hope it is a deeply meaningful day for you, one that is sad, yes, but also hopeful, motivating us all toward justice and peace.
