Happy Easter!

During some funny "man on the street" interviews, average Americans asked the meaning of Good Friday came up with some wild answers that made me laugh.

While this is probably obvious to you even if your parents never took you to Sunday school or you've chosen to be an atheist or follow a different religion without considering Christianity, I thought I would do a less-than-Cliff-notes version of two main events of importance for Christians like myself and relevant to the founding of our country.

Good Friday is the day when Jesus was crucified.

Easter is the day Jesus resurrected.

If you know that much, then you won't embarrass yourself if the subject comes up.

A better question is why is it called Good Friday when it memorializes the day Jesus was killed?

Beyond simply losing His life, Jesus suffered terrible pain and indignity on His way to Golgotha, a skull-shaped hill where the worst criminals were nailed to crosses to suffer.

Jesus had to push himself up using the spikes through his feet and hands in order to breathe.

After He had suffered for hours with ridicule rained upon him by a cruel crowd, a Roman Centurion finally mercifully stuck a spear in His chest to literally break His heart.

That wouldn't be a good day for any of us.

However, Good Friday refers to the goodness of God in sacrificing His "only begotten son" --- to "beget" is to bring into existence by reproduction --- "that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

As to why a blood sacrifice was ever needed to worship God, which is a question I've often found myself asking, is another issue that can result in long philosophical discussions, should you find yourself tired of rehashing whether we should have shut down the world economy in order to stop COVID-19 and whether we should ever be given our basic freedoms again in this life or only do what we're told to do.

In any case, it is a great comfort to Christians to know that if we die of Coronavirus or meet a more likely demise as the result of an accident, overdose, cancer, long-term consequences of bad habits or, as will be the case for most of us, heart disease or simply running out of the will to live, that we can look forward to eternal life beyond this world.

What that life after death pioneered by Jesus on that first Easter may be in terms of specifics is another topic for discussion, but in the mean time, God has blessed us with life on a beautiful garden planet living in "the land of the free and the home of the brave" where we have "inalienable rights" including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." By the way, those are quotes from "The Star Spangled Banner" and the Declaration of Independence, not "The Bible," in case they come up in a trivia game on your next cruise.

Note that nobody promises you happiness, but the right to pursue it in the way you find works for you.

May you always see the promise of resurrection beyond whatever trials and tribulations you face.

Happy Easter!

Wes