Good Friday

Permelia and Madeline, our first duck ladies

Today is Good Friday, when we mark Jesus’ death and burial. This morning I remember again that the soul's "dark night" is a part of the human condition. I reflect on desperation and despair. My capacity to experience despair is a gift; through it I am transformed. Jesus said, "You must be born again." (John 3:7). The ability to shift from despair to hope is how I get the strength to live life whatever the daily deaths I might face.

Agenda today:

1. Darkness to Hope Meditation

2. Read "Hope in the Dark"

3. Bake hot cross buns

1. Darkness to Hope Meditation:

Everyone has periods and circumstances of despair. I remember quite clearly when I was laying in the emergency room on a table, with broken ribs and shoulder, and everyone left, probably to help someone else. I had been strong until then, but during that 45 minutes when I was alone I succumbed to self-pity, pain, and loneliness pretty quickly.

Meditate on that feeling: Remember, for a few minutes, what it's like to be in misery - feeling alone, feeling no connection to Spirit. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Hold that feeling and take several slow breaths.

Then shift, and remember that you have experienced great joy, and remember that you will again; discover again a connection to the Divine. Relax into a feeling of light and hope. Feel a glow slowly fill you, as dawn fills the sky, and then extend light to family, to friends, to neighbors, to strangers, and to all others who are in darkness now. 

2. Read "Hope in the Dark":

I'm reading a new book, "Hope in the Dark; Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities" by Rebecca Solnit (2016). Chapter 2 is When We Lost. She reminded me of the pain and exhaustion I felt when Bush was elected again in 2004. And reminded us that that same year South America had better results, and was clearly climbing out of tyranny and into freedom.  Vaclav Havel said, "Either we have hope within us or we don't; it is a dimension of the soul ... Hope is ... an orientation of the spirit. ... "  

Chapter 3 is What We Won. She starts with a discussion of the 2003 Iraq war - sadness that the peace movement couldn't prevent it, and a discussion of the good that came from that movement. 

3. Dye eggs:

We are also going to dye eggs today! Eggs universally symbolize birth and potential. For Christians, at Easter, eggs stand for hope and spiritual rebirth. Eggs are part of the spring celebrations of people all over the world. It is a fact of science that wild bird eggs are laid only after the eye of the female bird is stimulated by more than twelve hours of light per day, which doesn’t happen until springtime approaches.

Tumeric = gold, onion skins = red-orange, red cabbage = moss green.

The people of long ago noticed the connection between eggs and warmer days, and so the egg became a symbol of spring. Folks began to color and pattern eggs, and trade them during their spring festivals. They may have thought that eggs were a charm that helped the sun to grow warmer.

Check out this post to see recipes for natural egg dyes, how to make confetti eggs, and how to dye pysanky eggs.

4. Bake hot cross buns:

The hot cross bun is probably the oldest of the many English buns. It was originally eaten only on Good Friday. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries street cries were commonly heard on Good Friday:

"Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, 

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!”

You are supposed to keep one bun all year to insure that all the bread you bake is perfect (and as a charm against shipwreck). 

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c. milk
• 3-1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4-1/2 c. bread flour (or all purpose) 
• 3 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast (1-1/2 packets)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and allspice
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 c. sultanas or dried cranberries
• zest from 1 - 2 oranges

Crosses, glaze, frosting:

• 
  1/2 cup white flour
• 5 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. apricot jam
• 2 tsp. water
• powdered sugar frosting (optional)

Yield: 1-dozen buns-

1- Warm the milk and melt the butter, then leave to cool. Place 4-1/4 c. of the flour, and the yeast, sugar, spices, and salt in a stand-mixer bowl. Briefly mix with a dough hook.

2- Add melted butter, warmed milk, egg, sultanas and zest. Mix until a smooth elastic dough forms - about 5 minutes on Speed 2 of standmixer. After 1 minute, add an extra 1/4 c. of flour if required, just enough so dough comes away from side of bowl when mixing and doesn't stick to your fingers. Do a window-pane test to see if the dough is kneaded enough - it should stretch without breaking.

3- Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with cling wrap and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

4- Line a 9 x 13" tray with baking paper that overhangs the edges. Remove cling wrap and punch the dough down.

Dust board with flour, dump out the dough, and shape into a log. Cut into 12 equal pieces.

5- Take one piece, press flattish, then use your fingers to gather into a ball, and roll the dough briefly to smooth. (This stretches the dough on one side giving a nice smooth surface. Place the ball with the smooth side up on the tray. Repeat with remaining dough, lining them up 3 x 4.

6- Spray a piece of cling wrap lightly with oil, then loosely place over the pan. Return to a warm place and let rise for 30 - 45 minutes (less than double in size).

7- Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour and water for the crosses into a runny paste (not too thick or it will bake hard). Spoon into a piping bag or small ziplock bag, then snip corner. 

8- Remove the cling wrap and slowly pipe crosses onto the buns. Bake for 22 minutes, or until the surface is a deep golden brown. 

9- Place jam and water in a small saucepan over low, to melt for the glaze. 

Remove buns from oven. Use overhang to lift buns onto a cooling rack. Brush with jam mixture while warm, and frost if desired.