Good Friday

So, it's this time of year again - Good Friday. How do we define it? Public Holiday? Religous event? Precursor to the ever popular easter egg hunt? Or, perhaps the incredible event on the forefront of Melbournian's minds, the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal (which, at time of writing, had raised more than $10mil)?

I, like many others of Christian upbringing, prefer to think of it in terms of its religious significance. To be perfectly honest, despite my aforementioned christian upbringing and (usually) regular church attendance, this is a time of year I almost dread. This may seem odd to a lot of people. Easter, after all, is the penultimate event of Jesus' time on earth, the comming together of everything that was foretold by the Jewish profets, the supposed saving of all mankind's sins and failings through his death. It is an historical event, obviously believed in by biblical scholars, and not (in my opinon) very well refuted by athiests. It is an event that has caused controversy throughout the ages, yet brought people together in loving respect.

But the question remains -why do I dislike this time of year? The simple reason is that it makes this religious reasoning a reality. Stupid as it sounds, this time of year makes me reflect on Jesus' death not just as a nice(?) bedtime story, but as a living breathing person painfully killed by the very people he came to save. This is often a big struggle for me, as for several years now I have been studying the sciences, both in high school, and now university. I am finding it increasingly difficult to match that 2000 year old story into something that I personally can relate to today, not just the easter story, but God's existance as well. Yet, despite the apparent differences between God and Science, and the inevitable arguments that follow them, I have yet to prove or disprove God.

You might be wondering how does that slight digression about God vs Evolution relate to the original topic? Quite simply, it is the core decision of cold hard evidence versus faith. Do I choose to see the world as many see it today, in all its impersonal, self-centred existance, or do I choose to believe that there is something else, something greater than I who can actually guide me through the mess that is called life.

As illogical as it may seem to some, I would rather believe in the almost romantic notion of ultimate love as shown in Jesus than believe that this world is 'it'. While I have struggled in the past to uphold this conviction, all I have to do is see the almost paternal love shown in Jesus crucifiction to realise that it's not just a good story, or a good excuse for a holiday, but a living, breathing person who might have actually made a difference.

So, as I sit here typing at this ungodly hour, listening the the (frankly briliant) Chronicles of Narnia soundtrack, I'm taking the time to do something I rarely, if ever, do - reflect on an event that I would prefer to put off and ignore - the impact of Jesus' death and resurection.