Good Friday: Warning - some of these images may be distressing to some readers!!

Another two common Easter traditions amongst Christians, particularly Catholics and Orthodox Christians, are Lent and particularly Good Friday.

Lent

One of these is 'fasting' or restraint: Here is what Wikipedia have to say about the importance of eating fish (instead of meat) during this time.

Still life in Dutch Golden Age painting and their Flemish equivalents often included a moralising element which was understood by their original viewers without assistance: fish and meat can allude to religious dietary precepts, fish indicating fasting while great piles of meat indicate voluptas carnis (lusts of the flesh), especially if lovers are also depicted. Rabbits and birds, perhaps in the company of carrots and other phallic symbols, were easily understood by contemporary viewers in the same sense.

Now I know why rabbits are also associated with 'Playboy' magazines (i.e. the 'Playboy' bunny).

And fish and seafood were cheaper than meat at the time, hence their association with 'restraint' - as much as I love fresh meat and fresh seafood, sometimes I have to eat tinned fish (i.e. tuna and salmon) instead.

And for me, because of the need for 'restraint', Lent is a good opportunity (and provides motivation) for purging bad habits: replacing fatty foods and sweets with healthier, low-joule alternatives (gluttony), going to the gym (sloth), trying not to take 'sickies' from work (also sloth), trying to control my temper (wrath), trying not to be jealous of others/feel sorry for myself (envy) and trying not to get 'turned on' (lust) when I look at 'good-looking' blokes (Rick Mora and Jay Tavare, take note and put some clothes on).  

These are some of the ways I have tried to replace my 'bad' habits with some 'good' ones (or at least 'healthier' ones).  Of course it is easier said than done....

Please eat your greens, children!!!  Or you won't get any sweets!!!

Good Friday

And Good Friday is the day Jesus had died on the cross 'for our sins', so we don't have to suffer.  As dark as the crucifixion is and in its meanings, it is a reminder of someone, in a very distant time and place, suffered so we can enjoy and reap the 'rewards' that come with one's religious beliefs.

That is a very 'comforting' thought - knowing it is a 'fair cop' to at least show some restraint and control one's impulses during that time of the year, and knowing you will be rewarded for it in the end.  It is nice to know, that even though life isn't always 'fair' at all times, it is is 'fair' (at least for me) some of the time.

Anyway, this is another picture (not my own) which sums up the whole 'dying for the sins of others' (in this case, Hitler's wrath, resentment and/or envy of the Jews).  As 'blasphemous' and 'racist' (or anti-Semitic) as it may appear to be, this composition was done by someone who actually was 'anti-racist'.

The artist goes by the name of John Heartfield (original name is Helmut Herzfield) - his photo-montages put him on the 'most-wanted' list of the Gestapo.  His artwork, humour and imagination were his ultimate 'weapon', the work of 'scissors, glue pots, dabs of paint, and stacks of photographs and magazine articles'. 

And if you can't even express yourself that way, then how else could you do it? 

He narrowly escaped death at the hands of the SS by going to Czechoslovakia, and then to the UK.  You can read more of it here.

However, with or without the swastika, the cross is still a symbol of 'suffering' for many.  And below is a picture I did of a crucifix.

The colour (red) symbolises the 'blood' of Christ in this image.  And everyone has their own 'cross' to bear, their own burdens, which is why crosses mean so much to many Christians.

Newsflash: not all art work is there for everyone's 'enjoyment' and some of it is quite the opposite.  But most artwork is there to communicate, hence the term 'visual communication'.

Anyway, I hope that nobody is 'distressed' by these images of crosses and (particularly) swastikas - I only hope one is more 'moved' rather than distressed or triggered, BUT is reminded that a few people in a given society make sacrifices so that the majority can enjoy themselves.  That is the message I have for Easter this year.

cheers,
Colleen ➕✝️♱