HAPPY Good Friday???????

Everywhere I went yesterday, even church, I was offered this blessing.

Is it a profound theological point?  There is that notion that the fall of humanity into sin is the cause of greater good.  Maybe that makes Good Friday a day to be be happy. 

And we do call it GOOD Friday, so perhaps happy is an appropriate response to the day's event.  Theologians do speak of the happy exchange in which Jesus assumes human sin and humans receive his righteousness.

And it was a gorgeous day, warmish and clear.  I did have lunch with my dear friend.  I WAS happy.

Even the bulletin at the Good Friday service instructed me that the appropriate attitude is not mournful since Christians know that Jesus death on the cross is not the end of the story, but a new beginning transforming death into life.

Nonetheless, I've never been greeted "Happy funeral," so I stand by my uncomfortable reaction and continue to search for a more appropriate greeting.