Good Friday

Good Friday. I am never satisfied with the way that I observe this day each year. How in the world do you observe such an occasion correctly? How do you give it the respect and the honor it deserves?
After observing "The Passion of The Christ" last year (during its overwhelming fame and controversy)I was deeply moved. I don't want to say that the movie 'changed my life' because Jesus did that far before the movie came out, however it did make it easier for my mind to wrap around the feelings and emotions of the people in those days. Mostly, in the middle of bawling like a baby, I felt a strange amount of relief, that I felt so much pain for my Lord. Sometimes it's easy to talk about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us as though there are words to describe it. Before witnessing this film last year, I was afraid what I might feel. What if I wasn't moved? What if I didn't feel? What if I didn't fit the mold of the other Christians around me who saw it and felt such emotion? Instead I found myself in the middle of the theater, in anguish, wanting to scream, "STOP IT!" at the top of my lungs. No film has ever impacted me like that and no film ever will after. Which leads me to the present Good Friday, which I find myself in the middle of. I am feeling sick (strep throat) which automatically puts me in a position where I am thinking about myself and how bad I feel. Having recognized this early in the day I've decided to knock that off.
I've been looking at the world around me and I am having a similar feeling today as I did a year ago in the theater. I want to scream, "STOP IT!"
I've been very angry this morning because from my couch the world is not observing the death of my Savior. It's still going at the same speed and doing the same things. Sports are still on TV and people are still going to see the new Friday movies. We have about 50 something channels I guess, and not one of them said anything about the passing of my Lord. I was mortified.
My husband had taken our Dog to the park. When he got home I shared with him my sadness as to Good Friday and the lack of respect it receives from the world, basing my opinion only on the media. Turns out, Jason met up with a few Christian friends at a coffee shop in the middle of the park. He said to me, "This morning in the coffee shop, it seemed as though everyone around me was talking about God. Either how much they loved him, or how mad they were at him or how much they didn't understand him."
He even ended up talking about Christ with a homosexual man who was desperately searching for something to believe in. So what have I learned...
I've learned that the only way to celebrate someone's life is to embrace their legacy and their reason for living. Jesus made it quite obvious to us what he wanted us to do (this was after he had died, risen again and hung out on earth for a little while.) He gave us the great commission, and even if though the world tries to tell us all that God isn't real and isn't a subject of interest, a coffee shop in the middle of Tallahassee where my husband can take our Dog and enjoy a cup of Joe, tells me other wise. Jesus is alive and people desperately need Him.
"The Passion of The Christ."