Holy Week...Be Present for the Journey

When I was a child, I would get very excited about events or special things that would be coming up (ok, let's face it, I still do...).  But I remember my grandfather and sometimes my mother, telling me, "Don't wish your life away!" As a child, this advice used to leave me puzzled because I couldn't understand why the adults didn't want the exciting event to come faster too.  But now, as an adult, I see the wisdom in those words that enables me to be still and have a bit more patience for noticing and waiting.


As people of faith, it would be very easy for us to stand in the middle of Holy Week, after experiencing the excitement of Palm Sunday, to wish that it could just be Easter, and we could avoid the whole betrayal and death of Jesus.  Those things don't make us feel very good because it is very hard to look death in the face.  It is very hard for us to sit and wonder if it could be one of us who would give Jesus over to the authorities in return for a few pieces of silver.  It's even harder for us to think that we might be the frightened disciples who scattered because we like to think about ourselves as those who would have the courage to stand up for what we believe to be right.

But then we think about what the mystery of resurrection means, and realize that death needs to happen in order for new life to be known.  Jesus can't rise again if he doesn't die...New life and new ways of understanding who we are can't be known if the old ways aren't shown gratitude and then put to rest.  Many seeds cannot bring forth fruit or plants if they don't first go into the ground to die.  And each of those steps must be taken in order for us to fully experience the unfolding of the process.

So on this Maundy Thursday, the day that Jesus shows us what it means to be servant to each other, the day that he eats with his friends for the last time, the day that he gives us a new commandment--let us be patient.  May we truly be in the moment and allow ourselves to feel the sadness and rawness of what it means to give up what we know.  May we have courage and strength to stay awake with Jesus, to walk with him to the Cross.

There is, however, the ultimate catch--we know the end of the story.  And that's what makes it hard not to skip all of the parts we might not like. We are indeed an Easter people, those who believe in Resurrection and New Life, in all of it's mysterious hope.  So as we look forward to that, may we know that God is with us each step of the way. May we be present for the Journey, for in many ways, it is just beginning.

May the reality of God's love be yours. May the newness of the Easter Season surprise you in ways that you never thought possible!