Today is Good Friday. I wish those who celebrate, a good Good Friday.

Matthew 27:32-56
32-34 Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.

35-40 After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they killed time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”

41-44 The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.

45-46 From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

47-49 Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”

50 But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.

51-53 At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

54 The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”

55-56 There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.

There is a Tenebrae worship service at my church (Boone First United Methodist Church) at 7 PM tonight if you are interested in attending. You. Are. Invited. At least I will be there.

But what is a Tenebrae service? Glad you asked is:

For United Methodists and some other Protestants, the story of the suffering and death of Jesus from John’s gospel is divided into 16 readings. After each segment of the story is read, a candle is extinguished. After the fifteenth reading, which confirms that Jesus had died on the cross, the last of the 15 lit candles is extinguished or taken away, and a loud sound (called strepitus in Latin) is made to convey the sense of total loss of God’s presence and the effect of the death of Jesus on the universe. The final story of the burial is read in near darkness.

Now aren’t you glad I used scripture from Matthew?

After spending most of the day part of Day 3 in the conference room area making sure things were working for the speakers and being a de facto sound guy, the evening was for partying. The type of party that you are required to go to by the Computer Mine, but it is okay cause you are getting paid to be there. Plus, I was tasked with taking pictures of the event, so I wasn’t required to mingle. Just kidding, taking pictures of the event required much more mingling than not photographing the event.

The theme of the CMC Party was Game Night. Costumes were encouraged, but not necessarily required. Unless you were employed by the Computer Mine. Then they were required. I don’t believe a picture of my costume exists, so you will have to imagine what it was like. I will tell you that my costume was a BIG hit with some people and a head scratcher for others. It was maybe a little tangential to the Game Night theme, but my goal was 100% comfort. The one thing I didn’t expect was how boiling hot it was in that costume. The costume you only get to imagine.

Here is a first collection of pictures from the evening:

One of the jobs of Computer Mine employees was to hand out poker chips… I may have gave 90% of my chips to this office.

There is a strong yellowish hue to these pictures cause of the lighting at the event. I could fix more of that in post, but don’t know there is a reason to do that.

There is still one more collection of pictures from Day 3 to share. When I share them, I will give the Per Diem Watch Update.

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ODD CAMERA ANGLE:

ODD CAMERA ANGLE

ODD CAMERA ANGLE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is an ODD CAMERA ANGLE photo? Simply put, it a picture taken from an angle that is different than normal. The grand majority of pictures are taken from the eye level of the photographer. This theme challenges you to look down at your subject. Or look up at your subject. Or look at it from an angle where something small looks big and something big looks small. Or try out a Dutch angle. Put yourself on the ground or in a hole or in the air. Just don’t take your picture eye level. That’s all we’re asking here. The world is your oyster. You just have to look at it askew.

This isn’t the first time that ODD CAMRERA ANGLE or something similar to it has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Have a look back at a few submissions from the past for a bit of inspiration:

Micky Augustin – Week 326

Sarah Toot – Week 359

Angie DeWaard – Week 359

Carla Stensland – Week 359

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 85

Hopefully something in there inspires somebody.

Happy photo harvesting!