Contrast

Today on the weather and garden front, it was a beautiful day. The sun shone. The temperature was mild. The sharp branches of trees were blurry with greeny-yellow tender small leaves. Green fields suddenly had expanses of yellow dandelions.

It was Good Friday, the solemn holy day when we commemorate the death of our Lord to atone for our sins.

The contrast between the anguish of Christ's suffering and the soft, sweet beauty of the day reminded me of a passage from one of my favorite books of all time, Precious Bane, by Mary Webb:

I wonder to myself, times, if it was fair, clear weather on Golgotha when Mary looked up at the cross, and whether there was some small bird singing, and the bees busy in the clover. Ah! I think it was glass-clear weather, and bright. For no bitter lacked in that cup, and surely one of the bitterest things is to see the cruelty of man on some fair morning with blessing in it.

With all my heart, I recommend this novel. I think anyone who reads it will be a better person afterward.

And I pray that we may all reflect, today and tomorrow, on our Lord's death for our sakes, and that we may remember and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was broken and that the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed for a complete remission of all our sins.

Tetelestai: It is accomplished.