Everyone is given a stone.

They are invited to put their sense of condemnation into it.

They are invited to put their feelings of isolation, loneliness, separation into it.

They are invited to put their sorrow into it.

They are invited to put their despair into it.

They are invited to put their sorrow into it.

They are invited to put their experience or fear of death into it.

They are invited to walk with it, to leave it with Christ at the center of the labyrinth, collectively making the shape of a cross.

Good Friday: A Service of Shadows and Stones

Words and music spoken as people walk into and out of the labyrinth on their own. Mostly dark. No bulletin.

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.

To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,

and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,

and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

Gathering Words

All you who pass this way
Look and see, the shadow of brokenness
All you who pass this way
Look and see the weight of the world
All you who pass this way
Look and see, the suffering of our Savior.
All you who pass this way
Look and see, the sorrow of Jesus Christ
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
(based on Lamentations 1:12)

Song: Go to Dark Gethsemane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD6tcMroY0A

Shadow of Condemnation

Reading: Luke 23:32-34

Prayer:
Forgiving Christ,
when the world condemns us, when wrong is done to us, when we carry the weight of things that are too much to forgive, come alongside us in the darkness, and give us the grace to be forgiven and forgiving.

(Silence)

Song: Before the World Began (John Bell, Wild Goose Resource Group) https://youtu.be/xt6jygkmSc8

Shadow of Separation

Reading: Luke 23:35-43

Prayer:
Reconciling Christ,
we are weighed down by sin and separation, a world that is not at peace, people who are not whole. You reached out to the thief, you welcomed him to God’s side. Come alongside us in the darkness, and bring grace and peace to everything that is broken.

(Silence)

Song: Jesus, Remember Me (Jacques Berthier, Les Presses de Taizé) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1XUkRt9go 

Shadow of Sorrow

Reading: John 19:25-27

Prayer:
Loving Jesus,
we carry the weight of the people we love, concern for their sorrows and suffering. Our care for them is deep, and sometimes there is not much we can do. Come alongside us in the darkness, and cradle the ones we love in your strong hands.

(Silence)

Song: Ah, Holy Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut_hTzlUtF8 

Shadow of Despair

Reading: Mark 5:33-34

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
you know what it is to feel that God is far away. You know what it is to call out for God’s presence. Come alongside us in the darkness, and help us call out for God.

(Silence)

Song: Our Darkness (Jacques Berthier, Les Presses de Taizé) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEkP1V2tgmw 

Shadow of Suffering

Reading: John 19:28-30

Prayer:
Suffering Savior,
in all our thirst, in all our sickness, in all our longing, in all our pain, you are there. Come alongside us in the darkness, and walk with us through all our suffering.

(Silence)

Song: I Want Jesus to Walk with Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TvF5dl9P0Q 

Shadow of Death

Reading: Luke 23:44-49

Prayer:
Dearest Jesus,
even in death, you are there. When we mourn, when we are afraid, when we come to our own end, you have been there, too. Come alongside us in the darkness, and carry us through death to life.

(Silence)

Song: You are not alone: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kgATi6cpKdI7PG995ZHKlrcOjDSKfqXm/view?usp=sharing 

(Silence)

Song: What Wondrous Love Is This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiqwfU1bfMQ 

We leave in silence