What’s Good About Good Friday?

Good Friday in Modern Times                  

I was out getting my ninety one year old mother-in-law her breakfast this morning when she came up with the question,”What’s good about Good Friday?” Well, I looked at her kinda funny and not being a very active Christian, I gave her the only answer I could think of, “Well, I guess it’s all about the hope for resurrection, that Jesus died for humanity, that we would be forgiven for our sins and there would be something beyond death.” This didn’t go over at all with the old lady, who insisted, “Yes but they crucified him, put him to death on the cross.”

Riiiigggghhhhtttt, well, it got me thinking, aside from the obvious (?) religious significance, (at least to Christians) what really is good about Good Friday in the modern day?

I started making a mental list:

Good Friday is a statutory holiday in Newfoundland and most people have FRIDAY OFF!!!

Good Friday falls on April 3rd this year.  If you live somewhere sensible (not Newfoundland) Spring is here and the grass is getting green and the birdies are chirping and the tulips are blooming.  (Not here – we had ten centimeters of snow last night, temperature is -12 degrees celsius, you can hide Easter eggs all right IN THE SNOWBANKS!!! Ughh.)

In the days of my parents, they would attend a 3 HOUR LONG CHURCH SERVICE!!!  At least some folks had a good nap, even though they came out with their arse’s paralyzed from sitting on the wooden pews.

It’s the best day in St. John’s for a feed of fish and chips!

It’s a THREE DAY WEEKEND.  It’s like having two Saturdays, cos you wake up on Friday and it’s a holiday, then you wake up the next day and it’s a holiday again, and it’s not even Sunday!!

Good Friday is supposed to be like Sunday on steroids.  To the old folks, Sunday is the day of rest, you know what that means!!!  NO HOUSEWORK!!! (no dancing, card playing, sports or general fun either, however.)

Stores are closed on Good Friday, so no blasted trips to the mall to buy last minute Easter crap that nobody needs anyway!!!

That’s the best I could come up with.  Feel free to add to the list by commenting.  I will add to the list and give you full credit.

I hope  I haven’t offended anyone with my slightly irreverent take on what I know is meant to be a solemn and holy day in the Christian calendar!  Don’t tell my mother, for she will be sure to scold me and kick my ass for being a heathen.  But then, I figure, if my mother-in-law who used to walk ten miles to church and back three times on a Sunday doesn’t know what’s good about Good Friday, then I didn’t miss much by skipping Sunday school.

(I’m gonna roast in hell)