Karfreitag

I walked down to the river yesterday afternoon, in the hope of organizing my thoughts to write this piece. The Neckar has risen nearly a metre above its midwinter average, and is running very fast and muddy. There must have been a lot of snow in the north of Switzerland. No ducks, no swans, no rabbits; but a red-tailed woodpecker and the first two herons staking out their fishing grounds.

It seems my fate in Blogger, to produce only trivia.

I've been trying since Thursday evening to write a piece about Judas Iscariot, triggered by going to see the Herrenberger Altar that afternoon, and by a fragment of a song which popped into my mind as I sat before it:

Through many dark hours I've been thinking about this:
That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss.
But I can't think for you, you'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side.
Bob Dylan, "With God on our side"

I have always felt a certain sympathy for Judas, because I see him and Jesus both as victims (in vastly differing proportion, obviously) of the story of the Passion. Judas' role was also forced upon him by God's plan; he too was given a cup from which he had no choice but to drink. To what extent can one who carries out God's will, be said to be evil?