Today is Good Friday for most Christians (for Orthodox believers, Good Friday is a week from today). Eugene Peterson, in Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness
recommends that all Christians read the Psalms daily on a monthly schedule, so I have been endeavoring to do that for the past 6 months, using the Book of Common Prayer as my guide. Fittingly, today’s readings for morning prayer included Psalm 51 and Psalm 52.
Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness; / according to the multitude of they mercies do away mine offences.
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, / and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant, that thou canst do mischief, / whereas the goodness of God endureth yet daily? (Psalm 52:1)
Some other Good Friday readings:
First Things has republished an excerpt from the late Richard John Neuhaus’ book, Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross
Also on the last words of Christ, you may like to read or sing a cycle of hymns that I wrote based on the Seven Last Words. You can download the lyrics here. They can be read as poems, or sung using the tunes from a hymnal. (Some of the tunes are obscure, some common, so your hymnal’s mileage will vary.)
What are you reading or doing today to observe Good Friday?
The former Associate Director for the Emerging Scholars Network, Micheal lives in Cincinnati with his wife and three children and works as a web manager for a national storage and organization company. He writes about work, vocation, and finding meaning in what you do at No Small Actors.