A Reflection for Good Friday
This final reflection in our journey with Leonard Cohen needs very few words from me. Cohen’s song If It Be Your Willtakes us one step back from the traditional Good Friday account of the arrest, trial, judgement, humiliation, crucifixion and burial of Jesus (John 18:1 – 19:42) to the poignant image of Jesus praying in the garden with the words, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done.” [Luke 22:42]
Cohen didn’t write this song about that story, even though there are images and references that seem to allude to it. He was writing about his own ‘resurrection’ from a time of darkness and brokenness, entertaining the possibility of new life and spiritual renewal, of finding his voice again with an eruption of poetry and song, but recognising the possibility that that voice might never again be found, might never again be heard. I can hardly listen to it without tears welling in my eyes!
And I certainly can’t listen to it without hearing the echoes of Jesus’ journey to the cross, of Jesus’ hesitant yet resolute acceptance that the will of God, even when it seems counter to all human reason and yearning, is ultimately the place of wholeness and wellbeing. If it be your will.
I am also very conscious that this phrase, the song, and the words of Jesus have some special relevance for me right now as I seek to discern how to live with a terminal illness. I say that not to sound over-dramatic, but to indicate that I am coming to a place of deep acceptance that, somehow, everything is OK. If it be your will. I have never been one to live with uncertainty, I prefer to have things mapped out and under control. But I find myself in a place where nothing is guaranteed, where there are no maps, no predictable outcomes. And it is OK. If it be your will.
Of course I am not taking this journey alone: I have a truly wonderful, loving wife and family; I have a deeply caring network of friends; and I have a brilliant and genuinely compassionate medical team at my disposal. It’s not that difficult to find a place of peace and comfort in the words if it be your will.
Please listen to this superb song from Leonard Cohen (YouTube link below) as you reflect on the story of Good Friday and on your own journey through Lent and beyond.
Grace and peace,
David Brooker (31st March 2026)
Listen to If It Be Your Will (Leonard Cohen) on YouTube HERE
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