Forthnights

Its Easter weekend.


Since I'm so busy being the devil throughout the year, I decided that at least for this weekend, I'd be a God fearing good boy for a change and bring my mom and my girlfriend to church.


Just last night, I agreed to go with my girlfriend to the nearby Catholic church. As you may know, I am not catholic, but she is pro-catholic, though neither of us have been baptised yet. But I agreed to go along since I knew being there on Good Friday was important to her. There was a special kind of service specifically for good friday only.


Being totally blind to the catholic ways, it was of course a first time to me. At the beginning of my visits to the church I felt awkward. It was always very solemn, very ceremonious and ritualistic, which in my mind wasn't necessary. I grew up in a Protestant church, and many of them were hip, vibrant and charismatic. The lack of drums in the music, the eerie chanting of the priest and the ever looming presence of Jesus nailed to the cross on the giant gross in the centered were always things that were foreign to me. But of course, after a while, my perception changed. Why do we have to be so ceremonious and ritualistic? What's wrong with the protestant way?


But careful examination of our own lives will show us that ceremonious are a main feature in our lives. All the pompous and grandeur during a ceremony is not the ends itself. They are a milestone in our lives achievements. When we graduate, we attend convocations; we dress in robes, walk up the stage, shake hands with the chancellor and have our photograph taken. When we get married, we hold ceremonies in church, walking down the isle, exchanging rings and declaring our vows in public. But in fact, you really are married when you sign that marriage certificate, not down the isle. At least legally speaking that is. When a person dies, there is always a funeral service for the deceased, and it is at the service and the eulogy that people grief and express their sorrow in public. A person is recognized to be dead when the doctor signs the death certificate, not at the funeral. So why the ceremony?


Ceremonies and rituals are ingrained in our lives, just like the examples we see above. The bigger the ceremony, the more important the occasion. The more important the person, the more people observe the ceremony. The ceremony is a public testament. To show others that something significant has happened or is happening. And so we pay tribute not just by sending out our thoughts and condolences, or by telling or informing, but by physically acts, actually doing something, as a reminder to yourself, and as a sign to others of what is happening.

And so on Friday night, going through the 14 Stations of the Cross for the first time, I asked myself “What am I doing? Why am I doing it?” Why am I kneeling down so many times until my knee hurts? Why are so many others doing the same thing?

The answer came to me; we are honouring the death of Jesus. The Priest said something that made me think; There is meaning and hope in our suffering. Just like how Jesus didn't suffer on the cross for nothing, our own sufferings are not in vain. And though we cannot see the hope, we must persevere. Suffering was not intended by God, but by Man upon man.

Apart from the pain I was feeling in my knees at the time, I was also wondering about the suffering I have been going through recently. Now that it has passed, it didnt seem that bad after all, though at the time it felt like hell. I realise that I had victimized myself. I had taken pity upon myself (again) and shouted to the world "Look just how miserable I am." And in doing so I just attracted more of the same thing.

I knelt down over over 30 times I think, and by the time I went home, they were red and hurting. But I was glad I went. It was hot and stuffy, and I still feel out of place, but somehow, just being a part of the congregation, taking part in this elaborate ceremony made me feel that at least for once, I had done my part in honouring the death of Jesus, not just in thought, but also in action. I guess that is the power of ceremony in our lives.

I will be the first to testify that I am no religious man. I dont usually go on blogging about Jesus and friends, but since it is Easter, I think I will end with this verse I particularly like,

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53: 5-6

Happy Easter to you my friend. Love and thanks and may God bless you.