"Father, forgive them
	… for they know not what they do." - Luke 23:34
	
Could Jesus say the same
	to us today?
Do we understand what we have done
	by letting the faith we claim
	be co-opted by empire?
	by letting the loudest voices
	speak hate in God's name?
I'm glad I no longer believe
	we must earn forgiveness
	else all might truly be lost.

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"My God, my God,
	why have you forsaken me?" - Matthew 27:46

I remember being told
	"If God seems far away,
	guess who moved?"
It wasn't Jesus who moved
	he followed the path laid out for him
	by the same God who now felt unreachable
Maybe it wasn't me who moved either
	when darkness felt overwhelming
	and faith impossible
Maybe sometimes it's just hard
	and that's okay too.

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"He said to his mother,
	'Woman, behold your son!''
Then he said to the disciple,
	'Behold your mother'" - John 19:26-27
	
Not a biological family
	but a chosen family
	a found family
	a family birthed out of pain
A family created nonetheless
	so no one is left on their own
That sounds pretty queer to me

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"I thirst" - John 19:28

Hydration, a basic human need
	we cannot live without
and yet, by our actions
	we take it for granted
	assume there will always be 
	water to slake our thirst
Unless you belong to one of the 38 First Nations in Canada
	who still have long term drinking water advisories in 2026
	or you live in Gaza, or Iran, or the Sudan or …
I don't have to wonder what Jesus would think
	"I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. …
	Whatever you did not do for the least of these …"

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"Today you will be with me
	in Paradise" - Luke 23:43
	
I stopped believing in a literal Hell
	a long time ago
But I no longer know what
	I believe about "Paradise"
Might it still exist?
	Sure, maybe, but also maybe not
	And I'm okay with that
Jesus isn't my "get out of jail free" card
	or my fast pass to heaven any more
I'd rather spend my time working to see
	the kingdom of heaven here on earth
	where all find wholeness and liberation
What happens after I die
	doesn't scare me any more

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"It is finished." - John 19:30

But is it?
An ending of one thing is often
	the beginning of a new thing
A single human life finished
	but the task remains
	both complete and yet ever continuing
	between the dreaming and the coming true
The kingdom of heaven is here
	and the kingdom of heaven is still to come
Or as Fannie Harmer said
	"Nobody's free until everybody's free."
So the work isn't finished yet

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"Father, into your hands
	I commit my spirit." - Luke 23:46

So much trust.
Am I capable of that kind of faith anymore?
I once aspired to that
Felt like it depended on me
	doing it right
	believing the correct things
But if faith in Christ is also
	the faith of Christ
Then it's not about my faith and trust
	it's about God's faithfulness and care for us
And that sounds more like Divine Love
	than what I used to believe