Ok, so I know it's technically Saturday while I'm writing this, but I wanted to get down these Good Friday reflections before the weekend is over…

In pulpits across the country this weekend, congregations will hear various messages about the meaning of Easter: Christ's death and resurrection, the triumph of Christ over sin and damnation, etc.  Obvoiusly, these are fitting subjects to pursue.

However, when we think of Christ's death and resurrection, what does it mean beyond the sin-oriented connotations?  That is, is the cross merely about forgiveness of sins and the defeat of the powers of evil, or it is possible to find even more basic threads of meaning?

For example, is there a primal meaning in Christ's death and resurrection for existence itself?  Let me explain.

We live in a universe that, according to the best evidence, is at least 15 billion years old.  This history of temporal existence is marked by cycles of life and death, decay and new birth.  Stars grow, age and then spectacularly supernova, spewing in their deaths the seeds of "life" that will become the incubators for yet-to-form stars.  Animal life is similar: we grow, age and reproduce, the energies of our lives being passed on (whether More >