Good Friday

Sitting outside on a warm (verging on hot) spring day. The wind is whipping all around as if it's in a terrible hurry to get somewhere.

I wonder where it could be going. To ruin an outdoor tea party? No. The wind is not that rude. Instead, I think it must be late for a visit to the lake and a frustrated sailboat captain.

Godspeed, wind!

With the next great breeze, I inhale deeply. Into my lungs rushes a cacophony of smells. Chlorine from the pool, soil and trees and shrubs from the yard, freshly mown grass from the neighbor two doors down, miniature roses in full bloom, wigelia and red honeysuckle and spent azalea blossoms...The smell of spring turning into summer.

And it hits me! On this Good Friday, the wind is not here to disturb, displace or destroy. It is here to announce that a great change is coming! The veil of the temple is torn! The entire earth is dark, even though it's the height of mid-day! The earth shakes and saints arise! My Lord and Savior is being momentarily forsaken and is almost finished with the reason for his coming.

Enter, wind! Whip around me! Stir creation to take note and give pause. Today is the day that my Lord dies. Dies for me.