A Good Friday Reflection

At the cry of the first bird
They began to crucify thee,
O cheek like a swan.
It was not right ever to cease lamenting
It was like parting of day from night.

Ah, though sore the suffering 
Brought on the body of Mary's son,
Sorer to him was the grief upon her for his sake.

At the cry of the first bird
They began to crucify my Lord.

                                             An ancient Irish poem


Sung here in a choral composition of mine at a Good Friday service in 2012:
 
At the Cry of the First Bird

Video from the Tenebrae Choral Vesper Service at
Edenton Street United Methodist Church
Raleigh, NC, April 2012.
Nancy Gerst, Director

My friend, Izabela Spiewak, played first violin in the chamber group. Sadly, she died (shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia) in February of this year. I am so glad to have this beautiful memory of her playing for this service, especially on this anthem. 

In this still photo from the video, the anthem's text is on the phrase, "It was not right, ever to cease lamenting." I am reminded that death is our enemy and we will always, ALWAYS grieve when it takes a life. We lament because death is an enemy.

On this Good Friday, I am also poignantly reminded that this enemy is defeated. Jesus Christ willingly died, so that death would not hold sway over us, but that the risen Christ would raise us up to new life in  the last day. Thanks be to God for this gift and this hope.

Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting? 

The sting of death is sin, 

and the power of sin is the law.  

But thanks be to God, 

who gives us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

from I Corinthians 15