Isaiah 53:1-7

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Holy Lord, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal....

Lamb of God.  Silent.  Slaughtered.

If I think too much about this day I get so confused.

The contradiction between WHO you are and WHAT you did is enough to blow my mind and burst open my heart. Perhaps that is the bottom line in this mystery of faith.  My mind needs to be blown apart.  My inability to think rationally about the WHY enables me to FEEL what happened.

The truth is, my heart benefits from being burst by the power of your mysterious love.  In that slashing open of my heart YOU claim, save and sustain my life--again and again.

The bursting of the heart renders my body heavy.  Kneeling and prostration feel natural as I contemplate the Cross.  It is a day for authentic humility and gratitude (which are both Good) rather than sadness.  It is a day to become small, insignificant and dissolved in the presence of the Cross.

Nothing about ME matters on this day -- not really!  That is part of what is so good about this day.