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Haydn wrote with musical symbolism, choosing notes that both mean and evoke. Take, for example, Haydn's choice of a simple two-note melody (a descending minor third from the fifth to the third of the major scale) to illustrate Jesus' word to his mother. Many years later, composer and music educator Zoltan Kodaly identified these same two notes as the playground call of children in almost every musical culture. "More apropos here," writes Young, these are the two notes with which children call their mothers." Similarly, when Haydn responds to "Why have you forsaken me?" his melodic line and his accompaniment voices are out of sync. "This conveys not just a disorienting, off-kilter sensation," writes Young, "but a feeling of frustration and even panic . … " Knowing these things, we hear Haydn with new ears, and he helps us to hear Jesus with new ears.

Meditation always takes time and intentionality. This book is an excellent aid to structuring intention and a richly rewarding way to spend slow time.

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Last year, David Neff wrote a meditation on Haydn's Seven Last Words. The Passion, Eight Adagios, and an Earthquake | Haydn's "Seven Last Words" is a powerful guide for Good Friday meditation.

Echoes From Calvary is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

'It Is Finished' But It Is Not Over | God's work of redemption continues in the redeemed, an excerpt from Cross-Shattered Christ.

When the Giver of Eternal Life Thirsts | Meditations on Franz Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ.

And Jesus Stood | An excerpt from Holy Week Sonnets, by Philip Rosenbaum.

God's New Family | Rethinking Jesus' words, "Woman, behold thy son … behold thy Mother," an excerpt from The Seven Last Words from the Cross.

Other Holy Week articles include:

Maundy Thursday | Part one of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. (April 20, 2000)

Good Friday | Part two of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article, by Virginia Stem Owens (April 20, 2000)

Holy Saturday | Part three of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article, by Eugene H. Peterson (April 20, 2000)

Easter Sunday | Part four of "The Great Reversal." by Philip Yancey (April 20, 2000)

The Goodness of Good Friday | An unhappy celebration—isn't that an oxymoron? (April 17, 2003)

The Other Holy Day | In the rush toward Good Friday and Easter, don't forget Maundy Thursday. (March 22, 2002)

More Easter articles include:

Who Killed Jesus? | After centuries of censure, Jews have been relieved of general responsibility for the death of Jesus. Now who gets the blame? (Aug. 24, 2000)

The Scars of Easter | He knows the wounds of humanity. His hands prove it. By Paul Brand with Philip Yancey (April 18, 2000)

Grave Matters | Take away the Resurrection and the center of Christianity collapses. By N. T. Wright (April 6, 1998)

Jesus v. Sanhedrin | Why Jesus "lost" his trial. by Darrell L. Bock (April 6, 1998)

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March (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49