“I’d willingly give up everything for just one perfect day.”
I have heard or read this mushy line in several romance movies I have watched and love stories I have read. Mushy as it may sound, it is a cris de couer that tugs at one’s heartstrings. It is specially true for those whose love has to face adversity and overcome difficulties.
As it is still Easter Season, I wonder what would have been the one perfect day in the life of Christ? The quick and easy answer is the day of His Resurrection, when He rose from the dead victorious and triumphant. Or perhaps His Ascension, when He was taken up to the heavens in glory. Or maybe His Transfiguration, when the apostles with Him were given a glimpse of what was to come. Or perhaps the Wedding at Cana, where he performed His first miracle and started showing people His power.
I sometimes wonder whether Christ would have instead considered Good Friday as His one perfect day. The day He freely accepted to take up His cross and be crucified. The day He willingly laid down His life for His friends and all the people He loved. It is the day , when through all the pain and suffering, through all the abuse and humiliation; He kept His humanity and dignity. Even as He was abandoned by those He loved, He was still thinking of others, “Behold your mother.” “Behold your son.” “Today, you shall be with me in Paradise.” Even as He was being mocked by His tormentors, He felt no malice nor hatred towards them, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” And through it all, He was still intimately connected to the father, “My God, why have you abandoned me?” “Into your hands, I commend my spirit.” And when the end was near, He whispered in quiet triumph, “It is finished. Done. Mission accomplished.”
Good Friday was the climax of our Salvation Story. Everything else afterwards was just the denouement, a tying up of the loose ends, the part where everyone is given some final instructions. Everything else unfolds as it should after the climax.
What is the one perfect day in my life? I have lived close to 25,000 days. I can remember more good days than bad days. I have had more happy days than sad ones. But I would be hard put to pinpoint the one perfect day in my life. Even now, I am still hoping and believing that the best is yet to come. There were some difficult moments I thought I would not be able to live through. And yet I did, coming out of the experiences better and stronger. There were happy days I never wanted to end. And yet they did and they are now forever stored in my memory. My life unfolds everyday, a mix of joys and sorrows. I sometimes imagine myself like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, with Christ walking alongside explaining things along the way.
Maybe my whole life journey is but a day in God’s reckoning and in His eternity. With so much blessings along the journey so far; it has indeed been one perfect day.