Good Friday, gratitude

Instead of listing out the things for which I am grateful, I'll try a narrative today. I still want to place at the top of my list gratitude to God and all who help me get through a day. Of course, I don't know Terry Gross personally, but I feel like I do. I am grateful for her show.

For Good Friday, Terry's show was about Jesus and Crucifixion, a Historical View. John Crossan was the guest. He is a Christian scholar and former priest. He discussed the historical Jesus, the role of cricifixion in history (it is a way to show people in a graphic way what they are doing is wrong), and the beginnings of Christianity.

Crossan is a founding member of the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars who meet to determine the authenticity of Jesus' sayings in the Gospels. He is author of over a dozen books on Christianity. A native of Ireland, Crossan was ordained as a priest and left the priesthood in 1969. The broadcast with Terry originally aired in 2004.

Terry has a way of bringing to me interesting and thought-provoking discussion of issues about faith and spirituality. She does this often.

I'm not sure how to tie this together, but what is coming to my mind is that in the news now is discussion of what goes on in churches such as the one where Reverand Wright made the statement about what is in the Bible about countries that should be punished for their evil deeds. This is the United Church of Christ where Barak Obama is a member. Barak was able to address his feelings about these statements in a speech that many people found inspiring, which often happens with Obama's speeches. I would like to be one of the ones who is not a cynic, hoping that America can, as Obama says is possible, overcome hateful stereotyping and heal wounds of the past and focus on how to solve problems.