Have you ever found yourself in a downward spiral?

Maybe each day you wake up not as good as the day before.

And you're starting to wonder, what if I completely lose hope?

Or maybe you simply look at the world around us that seems to be spiraling downward in certain

ways and wondering, will our world completely lose hope?

Will we ever have light?

Will these problems ever be fixed?

Today is Good Friday.

And that means that today is the day that we mark the day of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Jesus, who was perfect, who was sinless, who healed every person who asked him, who fed every hungry person he encountered, who gave dignity to women and the poor and people of different cultures

and ethnicities, that Jesus who did nothing wrong was crucified on this day.

He was beaten. He was mocked. He was ridiculed, even though he was innocent.

And when that happened, when Jesus died,

the scripture talks about something very unique that happens.

It says the moment Jesus breathed his last breath,

darkness covered the land.

For three hours in the middle of the day, from noon to three,

there was darkness over the land. What did that mean? Why did that happen? You take a moment and picture what would happen today if without any knowledge or foreknowledge or explanation,

but today it went dark in your town from noon to three.

Can you imagine what would happen?

The darkness, the chaos, the confusion.

And that is what happened when Jesus died.

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