Tomorrow is Easter, I won’t be posting then….. so after I came back from the Good Friday service last night, I was remembering the experience in 2000 when Greg and I were fortunate enough to make our first trip to Europe, this time with our church choir. Greg and I don’t sing in the choir, but they had a few seats left to fill out their trip, so we jumped at the chance with the encouragement and some monetary support from my parents.
This trip started with a few days in Paris and some of the usual tourist sites of the Louvre and Notre Dame. The choir sang at various sites on our trip including in Notre Dame which was so very cool!
We then made our way by bus down to the south eastern part of France to several smaller villages, then on to Geneva into Switzerland and over the mountains into southern Germany. Our trip’s real purpose was saved for the end,..... to attend the Passion Play at Oberammergau.
This is a 360+ year old tradition for this Germany village to put on the Passion Play every 10 years. It’s an all day event with a break at lunch. I cannot even describe with words the magnitude of this production…. Maybe you can get a glimpse of it by visiting this web site.
http://www.passionplay-oberammergau.com/index.php?id=59
Emotionally for me, it was an extremely moving experience. To see such a real portrait of the crucifixion of Jesus had every cell in my body on overload. During the nailing on the cross, I found myself frozen to my seat in real time…. But in my mind and my soul, I found myself running up to the foot of the cross screaming and wailing "NO! NO! NO!…. you can’t do this to my Lord!" …. I wanted to desperately stop this from happening by calling on the power of all the angels in the Universe. “Save Jesus”!
But what if the crucifixion had been stopped?
Would LOVE, salvation and redemption be in the world as we faithful followers of Jesus believe? Would God’s BIG picture plan for humanity be changed forever? A plan so big that no human can comprehend. And if we think we do understand “God’s way”….the “correct” way…..the “only way”…… are we fools? We need to remember our human perspective is so small, …. as a single grain of sand on the beach.
I was thinking about this in relationship to the Gay Marriage in Iowa. On my prior post on Monday, I probably didn’t report the whole story. Yes, there is much support for providing equal rights under the state law for all people…. However, there also is support opposing this. Very vocal people are screaming … "NO! NO! NO! Marriage is only between a man and a women!"
What if Equal Marriage rights would be stopped?
Which side of this debate is a part of God’s plan? …….. I don't know….. Except the only “clue” I try to use is to remember what Jesus taught….. he stated the most important commandment is: “You must love your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. AND Love your neighbor as yourself”; (Mark 12: 29)….
LOVE is the "clue" for me. Jesus loves us ALL even in our sin and brokenness, nothing can separate us from the love of God. That is the "Good News"!
Happy Easter!
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