A Writer's Thoughts

It Just Never Dawned on Me…

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

 

“Are you coming home for Easter?” I asked the one to whom I was speaking with at the moment. Group gatherings for our tribe tend to be one of two things. They are either thrown together spontaneously, or they are intricately planned. As most of us aren’t pre-planners, we sort of throw it together more often  than not and somehow, it works. We show up, give a shout-out for a place to sleep, grab a few meals, watch a good movie, and off they all go from whence they came. Oh yea, back to the question. Were they coming home for Easter?

“No, we have class,” they answered

“You have class? How can you have class? It’s Easter.” I retorted.

I continued, “Well, I know you have Easter off because it’s Sunday, but what about Good Friday?”

“It’s a state school mom, we don’t’ get it off.” They were calm; I was not.

“But…it’s the day He died on the cross! I mean, he died for Pete’s sake….and yours and mine and everyone else’s, too, for that matter!  How can they not give you that day off?” I stumbled through my litany of words as well as a few thoughts which remained unspoken.

I tried once more. “But you have a right to take it off. It’s not only what you believe, but it’s truth. So how can they not honor that? What is wrong with this world?”

Silence met me, but as any mom, we can hear. We hear the hearts of our children. His heart was in agreement, yet he spoke not a word. On I poked with a few more comments before letting go of the topic at hand. With respect he listened, feeling every ounce of my frustration.

In the end, it just never dawned on me, that it had never dawned on me…that my children would ever be in a situation that doesn’t honor Christ’s death on Good Friday. The world should stop.  Stores should close. Cars should pull over. People should halt whatever they are doing in order to remember. It should dawn on us that Good Friday is the day He died for our sins. 

And with all of the learned things we learn in this world, it just never dawned on me that learning about His life, His death, His resurrection…would not be revered at school.

It just never dawned on me…

“And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).  Amen.