A Good Friday Seder

Twas a fitting day to celebrate Good Friday,
Cool and cloudy.
But signs of Spring and new life were everywhere as we drove through town.
We sang hymns and had communion at a lovely service at Mom's church this morning.

Here's Elsie and I heading into Mom's.  Kind of a fun reflection picture with the beautiful blossoms all around us.

We shared a lunch of Borscht, bread and cheese and of course the traditional Paska with sweet creamed cheese spread.
I can't believe Mom still pulls all of this off.
At 87, despite the fact that she is moving very slowly and is often in pain, she is still baking the Paska and putting on this lovely lunch on her fancy dinner plates in the dining room.  Thankfully Dad is a huge help now and today Elsie and Patrice helped too.  I feel overwhelmed sometimes that I am not helping her more, but then I remember that I am paralyzed.
And all that, but still...

So we gather and share a meal on this hugely significant day of remembrance.
I'm so grateful for this day, for all that it signifies and how it changed ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

Out of sorrow sprang joy, out of death sprang life.
Out of despair springs a hope eternal.
It's a really, really, big wonderful deal.


Interestingly, Anita found a Jewish Passover for us to attend this evening.
This evening when Easter and Passover and a blood moon all converge...

The program looked something like this, only we had about 21 pages of material to cover.

We sat together with our Jewish brothers and sisters and listened to the telling of the story of the exodus...
We ate the bitter herbs and matzah bread and sang songs in Hebrew.
We drank the wine - there was opportunity to polish off four glasses during the entire ceremony if one so desired.

We ate this beautiful significant meal.  The very same one that Jesus would have eaten with his disciples on that fateful night.  And because of what He did after eating that meal, we have already crossed over from death to life.

There were extra Yarmulke's so Ollie put one on and ended up looking like the Pope.  But these guys below were the real deal. 

It was a pretty fancy schmanzy meal and this was the dessert! 

They opened the door to welcome Elijah and I welcomed the Messiah.  Asking for revelation to come to these dear brothers and sisters, who opened the door so that we could share their Seder meal with them.  

The final perfect passover lamb, the Son of God, has been sacrificed for once and for all.  For ALL.

Hallelujah!