Good Friday

Over and over again
we sit in our courtyards,
our mouths speaking what our hearts are full of . . .
WE DO NOT KNOW HIM.
DONOTDONOTDONOT
KNOWHIMKNOWHIMKNOWHIM echoes loudly
emphatically
filling time and space
heaven and earth;
and yet
the saddest part is
when the cock crows
we don't have the ears to hear
TOHEARTOHEARTOHEAR.
At least Peter had the ears to hear
and the heart to weep.
(-Ann Weems, Kneeling in Jerusalem)

"And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:" On arriving at the place, "they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall (wine mingled with myrrh, Mark 15.23), and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink" (Matt. 27.34). This potion was stupefying, and given to criminals just before execution, to deaden the sense of pain.

Fill high the bowl, and spice it well, and pour
The dews oblivious: for the Cross is sharp,
The Cross is sharp, and He
Is tenderer than a lamb.

But our Lord would die with every faculty clear, and in full sensibility to all His sufferings.

Thou wilt feel all, that Thou may'st pity all;
And rather would'st Thou wrestle with strong pain
Than overcloud Thy soul,
So clear in agony,
Or lose one glimpse of Heaven before the time,
O most entire and perfect Sacrifice,
Renewed in every pulse.
(-Keble )

"...they crucified Him" John 19.17-19