Saturday, April 07, 2007

Why is 'Good' Friday called 'Good'?


from w
In an Australian newspaper a few young people were asked, 'What do you think of at Easter?' The answer from all of them was 'Chocolate and Easter eggs!' I think if the question was asked in Fiji, the answer would be less flippant. The Good Friday and Easter weekend is taken seriously by many, many people in Fiji.

But why is Good Friday called 'good'? This is a question I have often heard. At first it certainly seems like an error, but some people, who are wiser than I, have decided that it is the right term. I looked up Google and found this article informative. I have cut out sections though as it is very long.

From Christianity TodayThe Goodness of Good Friday
An unhappy celebration—isn't that an oxymoron?
by Chris Armstrong | posted 04/18/2003

What a supreme paradox. We now call the day Jesus was crucified, Good. Many believe this name simply evolved—as language does. They point to the earlier designation, "God's Friday," as its root. (This seems a reasonable conjecture, given that "goodbye" evolved from "God be with you.")

Whatever its origin, the current name of this holy day offers a fitting lesson to those of us who assume (as is easy to do) that "good" must mean "happy." We find it hard to imagine a day marked by sadness as a good day.

Of course, the church has always understood that the day commemorated on Good Friday was anything but happy. Sadness, mourning, fasting, and prayer have been its focus since the early centuries of the church…

…I like to think the linguistic accident that made "God's Friday" into "Good Friday" was no accident at all. It was God's own doing—a sharp, prophetic jab at a time and a culture obsessed by happiness. In the midst of consumerism's Western playground, Good Friday calls to a jarring halt the sacred "pursuit of happiness." The cross reveals this pursuit for what it is: a secondary thing…

Today, Christian liturgies reflect the gravity of Christ's act. Services linger on the details of Christ's death and the extent of His sacrifice. Often the Stabat Mater is performed—a thirteenth-century devotional poem remembering Mary's vigil by the cross. The poem begins "Stabat Mater Dolorosa"—that is, "a grief-stricken mother was standing."…

…Good Friday has always challenged merely human goodness. Its sad commemoration reminds us that in the face of sin, our goodness avails nothing. Only One is good enough to save us. That He did so is cause indeed for celebration.
Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peceli and Wendy,

Consumerism has affected everything - our personal lives, Religion, Faith, Spirituality, Environment and Ecology. We require Simplicity and Slowness for Prayer and Contemplation - and to feel Pain, Compassion, Suffering and Sadness. A fast society will indulge in Pleasure, Entertainment and Excitement on every occasion.

In response to your post on "Good Friday" I want to post a part from my article which examines the impact of Speed, Overstimulation, Consumerism and Industrialization on our minds and environment. Please read.

The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.

The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment.

Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.


Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.

If there are no gaps there is no emotion.

Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion.

When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing.

There comes a time when there are almost no gaps.

People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps.

Emotion ends.

Man becomes machine.


A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.

A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.

A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety.


Fast visuals/ words make slow emotions extinct.

Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys emotional circuits.

A fast (large) society cannot feel pain / remorse / empathy.

A fast (large) society will always be cruel to Animals/ Trees/ Air/ Water/ Land and to Itself.


To read the complete article please follow either of these links :

FreeInfoSociety

ePhilosopher

sushil_yadav

Pandabonium said...

I agree with the first paragraph that Sushil Yadav wrote, but little else.

People in the modern industrialized world don't think, don't reflect, don't meditate.