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Thoughts and Questions on a Palm Sunday Morning
Palm Sunday is dramatic. Palms, processions and the detailed long gospel on the passion and death of Jesus lend a layer of seriousness to this liturgy that moves us into Holy Week.
The death of Jesus is difficult to read about and even more difficult to think about. The cruelty and brutality he endured are beyond comprehension.
A memory that remains with me from a trip to the Holy Land a few years ago is about the place where Jesus was detained after his arrest while those in power negotiated his fate.
I remember well our guide telling us that Jesus most likely was put into a pit that was cold and dark. It was not a cell as we would know a cell. It was deep within the earth, a place hewn out of the ground. The fear he must have felt is heartbreaking.
Jesus advocated for the poor. He ate with people who were considered the sinners of his day. He interacted with women on a level unheard of in his era. He spoke over and over about love - the love of God and the love of neighbor. In the end he was murdered because those in power were fearful of the change his teaching might bring to the order they had created.
What can we learn from this? Are we willing to dig deep and flesh out what it means to live and love as Jesus did?
Are we willing to challenge power structures that seem stuck and unwilling to change when it is apparent that change is necessary?
Can we move our circles to include those who make us uncomfortable and invite them into conversation with us so that together we might forge a new way?
Given the world we live in, not so different from the world that Jesus lived in except for technology, are we willing to grapple with these questions?
Palm Sunday and our devotions and liturgies in the upcoming week are full of questions. If we listen prayerfully some of our questions may find answers.
Peace,
Anne
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