Not so Good Friday

Yesterday, the day before Good Friday, I was picking up some groceries. As I came up to the clerk, we mutually knew each other very casually, I asked, “How are you doing today?” She factually stated, without complaining and with a smile on her face, that she had been busy all day non-stop. I told her, yes, I could understand that given it’s the day before the Good Friday holiday. Without bitterness she quietly told me that unfortunately she had to work the holiday tomorrow. I responded by saying that was not good.

She quietly continued she would have rather not worked to commemorate this important Christian observance and besides, her late fifties body could have used the rest, as well. “We’re supposed to be a Christian country,” she added.

I responded to her that we’re a somewhat Godless Christian country now, like so many other Christian countries around the world. Sadly, it’s all about making money now no matter what, especially in the retail world, and many consumers view it as just another holiday.

I continued by telling her that in the Bible, it clearly and repeatedly states, in both the New and Old Testaments, that you not should profit when you lend money, yet here we are, a whole corrupt financial system built around the concept of making money, obscene amounts, by charging people interest on loans. I added that this system was transformed to prominence by so-called Christian countries.

Continuing to look at each other in the eyes, she nodded affirmatively. I then told her I had much empathy for her, will think of her, and say a prayer for her. By her reaction, I knew this lifted her, if only for a moment. I then said goodbye and left with my groceries.

You see, nothing should be open on Good Friday save for essential services. Retail and other sectors do not need to be open and people don’t have to shop on Good Friday. But in today’s world, money and convenience are the main characteristics of our society, not God, not Jesus. Money is overwhelmingly god now, along with no compassion, in a corrupt financial system designed by so-called Christians. For so many who shouldn’t have to work, it’s not so Good Friday.