Malibu morning picture of the day - Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2015

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's Friday and here is the view from the coast:

Birds are flying by, against the backdrop of two much larger "birds" having flown by earlier. Additional snapshots taken in this session add nothing to this scene, so I will just leave you with this one picture for your Good Friday 2015.

Just in case you haven't been schooled in Christian history or belief, Good Friday is day when Christians observe the anniversary of Christ's death by crucifixion, believing that he was nailed and raised at approximately 9 AM and died at noon. This is why many traditions have 3-hour worship services during this time stretch.

Some churches will have tag-team sermons with several preachers on the "7 Last Words of Christ" while others will have you walk and observe a mini-pilgrimage of the Stations of the Cross.

This is also why banks used to observe a short business day (back when I was a kid), to allow employees to attend the noontime church services nearby. It was a different time them, stores were also not open on Sundays.

There are many fine pieces of artwork that are depictions of Good Friday, and thought about posting one or more of my "favorites," but I though this photo of a first-century fossil heel bone with an embedded spike in an Israel museum was a pretty good image for today. To the left is a recreation with a fully intact skeletal model.

The imperial Romans were masters of the art of control through the use of deterrence examples. One method of execution I remember reading about when I was a Latin student in high school was that would take a heavy canvas bag and sew up a criminal inside of it with four or five wild animals, let them all writhe for awhile, and then throw the bag into a body of water.

Well, now that I have totally brought you down on a Friday going into a weekend, let's just remember that death died that Friday, and that's why this Friday is called "Good." Go to church this Sunday. It'll cheer you right up.



On How to Have a Successful Good Friday

On that note of bringing you right up, know that the day has engendered a lot of hopeful thinking in everybody over the years, not just the religious, not in form of belief but in the form of superstition. Maybe God's not your thing, but "Do You Believe in MAGIC?" Well if you do, Good Friday is a great occasion. Check out these Helpful Household Hintz:

Good Friday Do's:

Dig out Granny's old recipe for Hot Cross Buns and make a big 'ol batch, because these will never go bad or moldy.

Keep one in the house, and you'll never have a fire. Keep one in your boat and you'll never have a shipwreck. Grate an old one into tea or milk and it's great for stomach upset.




Got a chicken? Gather up the eggs laid today and put them aside. Don't bother with refrigeration, because they'll NEVER go bad, just like the buns above.

Friend's house is on fire? No problem! Throw in one of these "super-eggs. It'll put it out, guaranteed! Don't worry about yours, because as long as you have the eggs, you're fireproof!



As for personal hygiene, get thee to Supercuts and get a new 'do! A haircut will prevents headaches all year.

Wean your baby.

Move the bees from the old hive to the new. (not sure who this applies to today)




It's a good day to die, supposedly you go straight to Heaven. (This must be regardless of your overall morality, otherwise there's no point.)

Make a wish at 3 PM. It'll come true!



Good Friday Don't's:

No hammering wood. (nails? cross? best not to remind a god of the worst day of his "so-called" life... it's a no brainer...)

No planting because no putting iron into the soil. (I think it's the nail/iron avoidance thing going on)

No going fishing today.

No washing of clothes. Things you wash today will never come clean. This supposedly is Jesus' curse since somebody slapped him with a wet garment while he was carrying his cross.

No changing bed sheets--you'll cause a death in the family.

Kids should not climb trees today. (again, tree = cross, disrespect ...)

And while it's good to die today, don't be born today because you'll be unlucky. However, if your parents are smart enough to take you to church on Easter Sunday and have you baptized, the bad magic will be counteracted and the child will instead get Jesus's gift of healing.

Got all of that? Go. Do! Have a blessed Easter Weekend.

Love,
Pops