Holy Week-Good Friday
There’s a saying, “we do not see things as they are but as we are.” There’s truth in this to be sure. Perhaps on Good Friday there’s another truth as well. The truth is…
Lloyd felt the world was garbage. He felt most people needed to be exposed as frauds. Fred felt most people needed hugs. The men were spending the day together as the subject and writer of a magazine feature story. Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden rainstorm. The wet drops began to fall just as school was letting out. The men boarded a NYC subway car to stay dry. Students on the train didn’t know who Lloyd was, but they knew Fred right away; Mr. Fred Rogers. The teenagers waved and giggled. Then they sang in unison the theme song to his television show for everyone on the train. “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Oh, won’t you be my neighbor…”
The real-life story was a scene in the movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” starring Tom Hanks.
Lloyd’s expose of Fred Rogers didn’t go as planned. In fact, he ended up not only writing a glowing story about Mr. Rogers; he ended up reconciling with his estranged father as a result of spending time interviewing Fred. Of all the ways to understand Good Friday—and there are many. I invite you to meditate on this as a day of reconciliation.
For many reading Psalm 22 and the Gospel of John Chapters 18-19 are powerful ways to here the truth of reconciliation. However, recent survey’s reveal less than half of US households have much interest in attending religious services. This is one of the reasons that in addition to referencing scripture I also talk about movies.
Esteemed Christian Ethicist Martin Marty says that makes sense, “The catechism and stories about the Lord’s Supper are of interest only when they “tell you about you.” Marty goes on to say that the risk of hearing about ourselves is that we, like the Greek god Narcissus, can become captivated by our own mirrored images. “Tell me about me” can, however, mean something that is much better than mere self-serving. The me…is a human who in the presence of God is learning to become more human.”
That’s the truth Lloyd experiences with Fred on a train full of high school students singing a children’s song. He’s invited to see that his cynical world view is a reflection of himself—not the world as it is. Seeing Good Friday as a day of reconciliation invites us into the Kingdom of Heaven—a beautiful neighborhood—that has less to do with the suffering of Jesus and everything to do with the Grace of God that helps us become more human.