Good Friday Sunrise
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the cold, sunny island of Nantucket! Great to be back with you on a Good Friday morning here in Cotuit, ‘where the ocean meets the wood’, the sixth day of April, 2012, looking out onto that bay of the same name, with the sun clearly present, rising over Oyster Harbors in the fair seaside village of Osterville. It was on this day some 2012 years ago a man many believe to have actually been the Son of God, with most regarding him as at least a powerful and pivotal historical figure that indeed influenced, dare I say shaped, the modern day world as we know it today; a figure used for forces of Good and evil alike…those darker angels of our very human “selves”, yes, it was on this solemn day this man was crucified in the Roman tradition of brutality and “finality”. The big question is, did they really kill Christ? Or is he infinitely more powerful than all of those Roman Kings, Generals and Gladiators combined? Remembered in LOVE and not in fear? Many who strive to reach the heights of altruism, where the “I” fades away like the stars when the sun begins to rise, and is replaced by the true Will of God, via the Holy Spirit, whereupon that Will can work real Miracles, well, it is usually cynically brushed to the side, and laughed off as naivete or worse. Yet, men, and women, over the course of human history, have risen to that challenge, putting a brother’s life above their own, the greatest LOVE of all. That is what occurred on this dark day in the city of Jerusalem so many moons ago, where a Roman official did what was told of him by religious leaders of the day, the local ‘powers that be’, if you will, not to mention the will of the Roman Empire, and killed that man for the crime of high blasphemy. For many Christians today, those who claim to follow Christ, this day seems to focus on the ‘death’ of the man, when the real message is that man’s resurrection. For that IS the ultimate message embedded within this Holy Week, culminating in three days with what the world has come to know as Easter Sunday, a day set aside for CELEBRATION. It is good news that all is not lost, in fact, it is getting better by the moment. The world is getting smaller and with the advent of technology beyond our wildest dreams only a few decades ago, bringing that world ever closer, “there’s”–as John Lennon said in a song lyric written during the turbulent 1960’s in the U.S., war waging in Vietnam and here at home; racism and hate flying about like debris from a E-5 tornado–“no time for fussing and fighting my friends…” The words and wisdom of Jesus were meant for EVERYONE, as his ‘religion’ was one based on the concept of INCLUSION, a point that might be heard today echoing through the flowering trees down at Augusta National, whispering through the white pines– “…I can guarantee you’ll never be member here…!!!” , (credit the late, great Ted Knight, a quote by his eminence, “Judge Smails” via the classic 1980 film, “Caddyshack”, also starring the incomparable Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and the immortal Rodney Dangerfield, the King of Comedy). The Dalai Lama was mentioned prominently by Bill in that film, another enlightened man, as Mr. Murray, or “Carl Spackler, assistant greens keeper”, put it in that cult classic, if you like gold anyway, telling one of the caddies, with a pitch fork held to his throat, the story of how he met ‘the Dalai Lama’, going something like this…AND ACTION! “So I jumped ship in Hong Kong and I made my way over to the Himalayas, got over ‘der as a Looper (caddy asks in stark terror, “Loopa?”), Looper! Pro Jock, Caddy. Now who do you think I get paired up with? The Dalai Lama himself…flowing robes, bald, sandals, the grace…striking. Anyway, ‘de Lama, he’s a big hitter, long, he hauls off and whacks ‘dis one right next to ‘dis 10,000 foot glacier, next to a 5000 foot crevasse, and you know what he says to me?” (”Carl” still pointing the pitch fork at the jugular of the boy, waving it wildly about, boy looking, again, terrorized and wishing for the insane story to end as quickly as it began) “Gunga delunga, no, wait, Gunga de gelunga”. “So we finish up the eighteen and ‘de the Lama’s gonna stiff me! And I said, ‘hey Lama! how ’bout a little something for the effort!?” “‘Den he turned to me and says, ‘there won’t be any money, but on your death bed, you will receive total consciousness, so I got that going for me, which is nice…”. cut, print, wrap! ‘The lamp is lit in you for your brother. And by the hands that gave it to him shall you be led past fear to love.’ Have a wonderful Easter weekend folks, be safe, be kind and be yourself! PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M
