(0611) Awoke just now to a reddish dawn, angry dark clouds and street lamps still on. (0733)
2. Easter Saturday
… is a most curious day in the Triduum, a word I discovered lately, as distinct from, say, Churchmouse who knows exactly how to put it in the right order.
The trouble with a middling course, which Unherdables steers, a learning course by the way, as distinct from a lecturing course, is that we are rammed into by boats going in each direction … one direction sees us as not going far enough at a solemn time of year, sees us perhaps as Laodecian, whilst the other sees us here as “religious fanatics” on the strength of a few bible verses picked up along the way.
Thus I for one disappoint both my devout friends, plus my atheistic libertarian friends which, however, is a place I’m quite used to … being spurned or skipped over by nearly all.
Wonder how Jesus felt at this point, back in AD33 in our calendar, on April 4th at 0642 (in the morning). The timeline says He was betrayed by Judas at around 9 p.m. Thurs, was taken and had a torrid time meted out by both Roman and High Priest, through the night, was crucified at 9 a.m., was in agony for 6 hours (have you ever stopped to think how it might have physically felt) … and it ended around 3 p.m., Jerusalem time.
He seems to have been entombed soon enough after, maybe into the evening …
… and here we are now at 0647 BST, not quite au fait with what He’s up to just now but it seems to involve descending to the dead or even to hell and walking out again. The miraculous part, seems to me, is right now, through today … the part we don’t see for ourselves.
Thus the Saturday or second day is when the really heavy work is going on. Then we get into the issue of Sunday or Monday for Mary Magdalene … which day was it? I’m not sure that that matters … just the very assertion of Resurrection blows minds from Caiaphas to the other whited sepulchres to the disciples themselves and company, the emerging church.
Today, it’s a bridge too far for most but for those knowing their scriptures, old and new, if one accepts a divinity in the birth and in the ministry, then what’s one more miracle? It does not, for one, put me in a quandary … for a start, just look at the logic of it all … all the way through it comes down to faith, just that. Once you remove all the chanting and trappings, regalia, what you’re left with is that question … is it true, is it not?
I opted for “true”, to see what happened, also observing the emerging Christology, the way it gripped people, the way it’s gripping people today, esp. the younger set … only yesterday, massed rallies by old and young at a troubling time for the west. Most did not see this as it was on X … but not in the MSM, as one would expect. And don’t forget the Nigerian and Syrian pogroms this weekend, let alone Iran/Persia.
In my case, personally, various signals appeared at points over the decades … enough to certainly not dismiss it out of hand … but more than that … certain events followed after each re-affirmation in my brain … might have been some miraculous recovery of a child, certain things surprisingly falling into order, whatever. Don’t forget that this is one miserable sinner here writing at you, not some saint … as I keep returning to ad nauseam. And what?
While there’s certainly a thing called believing in fairy tales, there’s also the phenomenon of a faith which cannot be quite snuffed out, as Chesterton pointed out … and there’s a human wholeness to it all, compared to the alternative. Science? Well what are we doing at Unherdables? Is it not constantly exploring, observing, recording?
I keep coming back to that bit in The Day the Earth Stood Still, when the alien visits the professor. The professor wasn’t three wise monkeys, wasn’t standing in a river in Egypt … but at the same time, he did require at least some sort of signal, some sort of evidence. And received it. …/END for now.
1. DAD at 1342
a) Two researchers from Cevipof see the violence that accompanied the installation of some new mayors as markers of a growing polarization of society, to which social media contributes.
b) Rennes (35): A Catholic sticker reading “Hope and salvation of France” triggers a reprimand from the Socialist Party president during a regional council session.
c) Germany. A man, armed with two knives, detonates grenades on a moving train: twelve people injured.
