{"id":19960,"date":"2018-03-31T01:32:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T05:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=19960"},"modified":"2018-03-30T23:35:46","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T03:35:46","slug":"tgif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2018\/03\/31\/tgif\/","title":{"rendered":"TGIF"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2017\/08\/cc23-e1499542578663.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2017\/08\/cc23-e1499542578663-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-18058\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The sky is sullen overhead<br>\nThe tree a silhouette<br>\nThe rain begins to fall again<br>\nNo one\u2019s left just yet.<\/p>\n<p>The body hangs limp and loose<br>\nThe soldiers take their time<br>\nThe women weep and weep and weep<br>\nWhose act had caused this crime?<\/p>\n<p>I could not bear to stay and watch,<br>\nHis mother\u2019s grief too great<br>\n I needed to get her somewhere safe<br>\nThe hour was quite late.<\/p>\n<p>Why had he given her to me?<br>\nShe had more children too<br>\nAnd how could I become her son<br>\nWhat was I to do?<\/p>\n<p>I took her home that awful day<br>\nJust when the lambs were killed<br>\nI had no stomach for the meal<br>\nSo much blood was spilled. <\/p>\n<p>How could he forgive his tormentors<br>\nOr promise paradise<br>\nTo another hanging there<br>\nHis flesh as cold as ice?<\/p>\n<p>Those fishermen had run away,<br>\nThe tax collector too<br>\nI heard the awful word betray<br>\nAnd knew not what to do.<\/p>\n<p>My sisters hid at home nearby<br>\nStunned to silence now<br>\nYet he had seen it coming soon<br>\nBut had not said just how.<\/p>\n<p>The cup had not passed him by<br>\nHe drank it to the dregs<br>\nThen strangely said \u2018I thirst\u2019 once more<br>\nBut refused to beg.  <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all been taught that how one dies<br>\nReveals just who we are<br>\nBut how could such a shameful death<br>\nBest the best by far?  <\/p>\n<p>When sundown came for Passover<br>\nThe blood above the door<br>\nI wondered if the plague returned<br>\nTaking a son once more.<\/p>\n<p>His exodus was not like theirs<br>\nThey left alive and well<br>\nHe left much too suddenly,<br>\nSome said he went to Hell. <\/p>\n<p>What kind of God had he called too<br>\nIn his forsaken state?<br>\nWas it the God of exodus,<br>\nIf so, he came too late. <\/p>\n<p>Etched in my mind on this dark day<br>\nHis battered, blood-soaked face<br>\nDid he raise me from the dead<br>\nSo I could take his place?<\/p>\n<p>These questions haunt me here at home<br>\nMy heart keeps screaming\u2014 why<br>\nHis mother says it was foreseen<br>\nThat he would have to die.<\/p>\n<p>I cannot bear to celebrate<br>\nThe slaughter of the lambs<br>\nOr say out loud the Passover<br>\nOr remember who I am.<\/p>\n<p>This day will live in infamy<br>\nHumanity at its worst<br>\nInstead of justice or reprieve<br>\nThe righteous man was cursed.<br>\nAnd as the night comes closing in<br>\nMy prayers seem useless now<br>\nNo Sabbath rest for me this night<br>\nMust sleep, but don\u2019t know how. <\/p>\n<p>Come Sunday we should find the tomb<br>\nWhen the sun does rise<br>\nAnd pay our last respects to him<br>\nAnd restart all our lives.<\/p>\n<p>BW3<\/p>\n<p>March 30, 2018<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sky is sullen overhead The tree a silhouette The rain begins to fall again No one\u2019s left just yet. The body hangs limp and loose The soldiers take their time The women weep and weep and weep Whose act had caused this crime? I could not bear to stay and watch, His mother\u2019s grief [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TGIF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The sky is sullen overhead The tree a silhouette The rain begins to fall again No one\u2019s left just yet. 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