On this Good Friday and upcoming Easter Sunday, I am reminded again of my many years of Christian fundamentalism and fervor for all things sacred and committed.  Three-hundred and sixty-two days out of the year I am typically respectful and tolerant of opposing and differing world-views and faiths.  But during those bygone years and Easter weekends I was utterly baffled and amazed of the hundreds, maybe thousands of followers and believers that came out of the woodwork; out of nowhere!  Never before had I seen so many unrecognizable faces and families!  The outfits and hats, some of them gaudy, you thought you had taken a wrong turn to the red carpet of the Oscars.  On top of this awe was the fact that on this particular Sunday I and my family, as weekly members, would have to walk three-times further from our car to enter and exit our church.  The parking lot and spaces were filled to capacity that would challenge even Super Bowl Sunday!  What saddened me was that I would never see their faces again; maybe I would see them a year later.  Maybe.

Having gone to seminary for three years, learning the New Testament inside and out, and knowing (and back then complying) what God’s holy infallible scriptures direct us to do…. there was no possible way for anyone with at least a 9th-grade reading level to not at least comprehend what our/the “Savior” was asking us to do on a daily weekly basis.  As a result, Easter Sunday became one of my least favorite Sundays of the entire year.  I had developed an unattractive distaste for what it had become:  wayward and diluted.

Many things have now changed in my life and I’m happy to say, that in a spiritual, emotional, and mental aspect, for the better.  The comical irony of those changes would makeup another post of which I will spare all of you this time.  However, in the spirit of the day and holiday weekend, I will share two of my favorite 3-minute songs from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and The Life of Brian.  These songs always make me smile and happy.  Don’t take things too serious but enjoy your holiday weekend in whatever manner you see fit — this is my way.  And with that…. Live well, Love much, Laugh often, Learn always.

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