Holy Week In The Christian Church

Today is Good Friday, one of the holiest, most sacred days in the Christian calendar. Easter is another, along with Holy Thursday. Christmas? Nope; hardly a blip on the radar. That ringing you hear isn’t angelic bells but cash registers.

I hear noise being made by those who decry the delivery of mail on Good Friday, which was not done in the Old Days. The tiny little delicatessen where I worked was closed from noon until three so the owners and the help could attended services in our church down the street. The idea of being basically a Christian nation spilled over into our daily lives and people pretty much accepted it.

Times, as they do, change. It’s no longer a day off, unless the boss wants to give it. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor religious holidays, keep the mailman from his (now hers, as well) appointed rounds. A lot of people, including such luminaries as me, wish the country could stop for one day and reflect on what happened. But many of those folks also realize (a) we have other religions which don’t get the same shake and (b) not too many Christians excused from work will actually show up in church.

It becomes much like the Sunday work/sales events: What happened to the piety and sacred character of the day? Well, instead of someone mandating you spend the day at rest, or meditating on what happened at the start of your religion, you have to be self-starting. The stores are open? Ok; don’t go there. Lawn needs mowing? Wait a day. Be responsible for your own beliefs.