Good Friday: Reflections on Luke 23:34

The God man hung suspended above the crowd on a device constructed to slowly torture a man to death. The eyes of those who had laid palm branches along the road crying, “Hosanna!” as he’d ridden into town only days before looked up at him–-but not in love. Not in admiration or respect. Their hearts were full of pride––pride in dominating the man who claimed to be the messiah.

Perfection himself had come to serve and be slain. He had come in all humility, foregoing all the worship he deserved in order to perform the ultimate act of love. For these sinners. For the very people who sought to destroy him, and in so doing become their own gods.

And yet Christ saw through this. He knew not only the depth of their sinfulness, but of their ignorance. And despite their hard hearts, he loved them still. He cried out for their forgiveness even as he struggled to draw breath. Even as four inch nails cut into his flesh.

In that moment, Christ’s body was weak. Shattered. Wasting away. He was feeling the full effect of this humanity that he’d robed himself in. But he didn’t sin. As the full weight of the pride of his captors bore down on him, he remained humble. He looked out on the crowd and loved them. They broke him, but his heart was broken for them. What a glorious picture of the God man! Both fully God and fully man until the very moment of death.

What would we have done in that moment? Beg to die? To be released? Or would we be overwhelmed with anger, bitterness, or self-pity––feeling as though we deserved better treatment, that we were entitled. The irony is that if we hung there, we would deserve no better. We’ve sinned, and we deserve to die. And yet the only sinless man who has ever walked the earth humbly gave up what he was entitled to––worship by the crowd––in order to show the greatest act of love of all time. To die for them.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Rolfe and Group Think

Remember Rolfe from The Sound of Music? He has you convinced through most of the movie that he's a good guy, a guy deserving of Liesl's affections. Then without warning, he joins the Nazi's and betrays the Von Trapps. So had he been lying to her the whole time? Biding his time until he has the chance to turn on them?

I'm guessing none of us have walked away from the movie with that interruption. Instead we realize he had good intentions but was misled by his country's widely accepted propaganda that the Nazi's were doing what was right. They were doing what needed to be done. He began believing that the ends justify the means.

Poor Rolfe. We feel sorry for him a little. But mostly we just wish he'd done the right thing and let the Von Trapps sneak away into the night.

Now many people in our country are facing the same dilemma as Rolfe. They've bought into a widely accepted propaganda that the ends justify the means. That some lives matter more than others. And that's the key. We need no longer argue when life begins because it's apparent that it doesn't matter. Proof that life begins in the womb will do us no good. What matters is what kind of person is more valuable dead than alive.

For all you Rolfe's out there with good intentions and only desire to see women treated well, ask yourself if the fight is really about women's rights, or equal rights for all human-kind? As Rolfe taught us back in the 60's, just because something is widely accepted, doesn't make it true.

Tim and I have been discussing the issue of life a lot lately, and in a broader sense than just abortion. With the election approaching, this is the one issue that's standing out to me more than any other. The issue of life is no longer about when life begins, but who is deemed valuable by society. That's been made clear to us lately with the deaths of minorities, law enforcement officers, and even the elderly.

Did you know that the elderly are among the recent death toll? Some of you may, and it probably won't surprise you. But it surprised me.

Recently I was told that when my grandmother was placed in hospice care a few years back, there was a sign placed in her room that said no food or water to be administered unless by a family member. When one of the family asked a nurse to bring water, they were pulled aside and told that she couldn’t have water because she was in hospice. The implication being that hospice is a place to die, and die quickly apparently. This is not to say that this is how all of these facilities operate, but it was how this one operated. I don’t remember that sign, but I do remember my grandmother going from conversing normally one day, to being unresponsive within a day or two.

These people are inconvenient to our way of life, so therefore, they should removed from the equation. Unborn children, the elderly, people with mental handicaps, minorities, law enforcement, etc. An inconvenience. And what is the American dream about other than living the perfect life we’ve always dreamed about? There’s no place for curve balls like unwanted life in that dream.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4

The Lunar Chronicles Bookmark Contest

***Update: I made it to the finals and won a swag pack of Lunar Chronicles goodies and an autographed book. Here's the final blog on the fabulous winner, Tereza! Congrats!

Anyone who knows me well can tell you I am a huge nerd. So when I learned that Marissa Meyer, author of some of my favorite sci-fi novels, The Lunar Chronicles, was holding a bookmark design contest, I had to enter! Introducing my very first piece of fan art! 

This is a double-sided bookmark design featuring all four female protagonists from The Lunar Chronicles. All images were shot and designed by myself.

Here's the story behind each photo:

Cinder: This photo was taken in Shepherdsville, Kentucky in the garage of a mechanic friend. Cinder was played by Kendra Christy. 

Scarlet: This photo was taken in Shepherdsville, Kentucky in front of my neighbor's house. Scarlet was played by Katie Christy.

Cress: This photo was taken in the model's home in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Cress was played by Hannah Simpson.

Winter: This photo was taken at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Winter was played by Symone Robinson.

Below are the full-sized images from each session.