With a forthcoming election in Ireland, parties will attempt to garner votes and build up their candidates vote-catching. But the slickest of public relations work finds the largest obstacle is actually motivating people to go out and vote. Otherwise everything else is in vain.
It’s a problem Good Friday doesn’t seem to suffer from. The crowds come out and watch and witness in all its stark simplicity the re-telling of that first Good Friday. Why? What power has this day on the Christian soul?
Somehow we know instinctively that while Elections touch fleeting areas, this is serious. When Jesus cries out in victory;“it is accomplished” - It strikes a chord in us at our human tendency to stop before we cross the finish line. We see it in the smallest of things. From half-read books, to unfinished letters, to partly mowed lawns, to abandoned diets. More seriously in relationship hopping, children abandoned, marriages broken, a cold faith. Living in a even colder world where striving to do good is unrewarded and mocked at times. Are you weary as a parent? Pessimistic about your job or colleagues? Lonely in a marriage? Can’t resist temptation? Have you forgotten hope, weary with doing good? Tempted to quit? Jesus was but didn’t. As Mother Teresa said, "God didn’t call us to be successful, just faithful." The promise is Paradise, no election gimmick to get your vote. It’s for those who remain a “goodscho faithful servant.” Walk on.
(Comments to Tom at tomascox@eircom.net )