James Stewart has written an interesting short essay at Catapult Magazine wondering why Good Friday doesn't get as much attention in American Christian circles as does Easter Sunday. He encourages us to reflect on Good Friday and Easter not just as one "Easter weekend," but as two distinct and critical events in the story of grace:

It seems that such celebrations are not the norm, and in most cases Good Friday slips us by. I occasionally find myself wondering if that plays into or comes out of the general confusion so many Christians and so many Churches have about the comparative importance of (and the relationship between) crucifixion and resurrection. Both are part and parcel of the business of redemption and neither can be understood without the other, but they are also distinct space-time events with distinct meanings. It's rare to find a holistic theology that doesn't overplay one or the other, or conflate them into one jumbled confusion. Taking time out to celebrate them separately, to understand each in its own right, may in turn help us understand their conjunction more profoundly.

He notes in closing that there is something special about celebrating Christian holidays that have not (yet) been co-opted into major cultural events. I hadn't considered that--we Christians frequently bemoan the way our culture (and in some cases, even the church itself) has secularized religious holidays. But there are many important dates on the church calendar that are entirely overlooked by mainstream culture despite their significance to the church. And there's value in reflecting on them, too--even if there's no special church service to mark them.