Good Friday (# 1955)

1.Who once was heed less,
but later is not,
brightens the world
like the moon
set free from a cloud.

Dharapada. XIII, Worlds.

2.Adams Rubble: So there is hope for us?
***: Whenever we remember to take a break from our heedlessness.
Adams Rubble: How is the research going?
***: The Dharmapada warns against pursuing useless knowledge.
Adams Rubble: How do we know what is useless?
***: Sometimes it is easy. This project is more difficult to tell. I have learned much about the practice of Christianity through the ages the past week.
Adams Rubble: Wow, can you say more?
***: Ha! Yes, I can. There were often fights about things that were very unimportant. The earliest Protevangelium said that the gestation period for Mary was seven months. This was because Jewish tradition said that about divine figures. But when the story of Joachin, Anna and Mary was about the incarnation, the Protoevangelium was changed to say nine moths, the normal time of a pregnancy. In the Eastern church people took different sides but they decided not to fight about it. This attitude was also taken for the question of whether Anna had three husbands.
Adams Rubble: That seems smart.
***: In the Western church the arguments were fierce, often ending in charges of heresy. When the Franciscans and Dominicans fought over the question of the husbands, the Pope forbade them from accusing each other of heresy.
Adams Rubble: But obviously this was all made up.
***: It is easy for us to see that. They were actually arguing about underlining principles but still, even they were not important.
Adams Rubble: Is that what the Dharmapada author was getting at in his warning of pursuing useless knowledge.
***: Well that is easy to see but what about me learning about these battles. When are revelations due to meditation and when are they just made up? Does it matter?
Adams Rubble: Whew. It is safer when the conclusions come from careful observation.
***: Does that mean from “not heedless” or mindfulness?
Adams Rubble: Bingo!
***: When Christ died at the ninth hour, the sacrifice was made, and Paradise opened. Christian tradition also maintains that Adams and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden in the ninth hour. It is the sacrifice that freed mankind from original sin and not the resurrection.
Adams Rubble: Is that why it is called Good Friday?
***: I don’t know but it seems to me the celebration of the day should be more positive.
Adams Rubble: The churches would have us wait until Sunday to sing “Allelujah”.
***: At the moment I am a bit confused but will never feel the same about Good Friday.
Adams Rubble: The church services are dark.
***: I am going to continue to pursue knowledge of the issues surrounding St. Anne. There has a good bit published in the last twenty years or so.
Adams Rubble: Dubs will have to wait a little longer?
***: Yes, I keep adjusting my thoughts about things.
Adams Rubble: I will leave you to your work. Remember to life your head occasionally and be mindful for at least 9 seconds.
***: Allelujah!