Maundy Monday

I know, I know. It's supposed to be Maundy Thursday, but I thought I'd mess with your mind a bit since I'm changing my blog focus this week. Veering from my typical Mitigate Monday, Tour of Tuesday, Weighty Wednesday, Theology Thursday, and Frolic Friday posts, I am going to post a photo, a scripture or poem and maybe a brief personal thought about Easter week.

Because this is Holy Week for me as a Christian, I will be super busy practicing my cello with the church orchestra in preparation for Sunday, making weekend plans with beloved friends, attending the Maundy Thursday service, the Saturday Easter Vigil service, and the Easter Sunday service. Interspersed between now and then, I will also be helping set up the newly renovated church nursery, going to work, my counseling appointments, Pilates classes, a breakfast on Saturday morning at a local cafe, a breakfast at church on Sunday morning, another orchestra practice, a movie viewing at a theatre with friends, a lunch after church on Sunday, but only after I bring a friend to the airport and before dinner at another friend's house. Also, I sold my car yesterday, so I will be doing all of this while navigating public transportation again, in 8 inches of snow. (On Sunday I get to borrow a friend's car in the afternoon, though! Hooray!)

If it all sounds tiring to you, it's probably because it sounds tiring, even to me. At the same time, I love Easter week and always have, especially since choosing to attend more liturgical churches as an adult which follow the church calendar. I love seeing the sanctuary, communion table, and my pastor's stoles change colors with the church "seasons" and with Easter, I love walking through Lent, then Holy Week, to finally burst into celebration mode on Easter Day! Understanding the significance and weight of the Bible stories and Jesus' love for me comes more naturally when I have tangible reminders; when the songs and hymns at church direct my mind towards the teaching of the season, and when I have the space to walk through the traditions in a new and freshly personal way each year.

My favorite part of Easter is that every year God's grace takes on a new weight for me. This year, I am grateful to know a God who understands the pain and trauma of this world. Not only did he feel it himself, but he chose to take upon his shoulders all the suffering of the world, even at the risk of being separated from God himself, to make sure I could run to God freely in my own pain. There are some days that I wonder if God still exists because the darkness of the world feels all-consuming.

Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday in which we tell the story of Jesus making his way purposefully towards Jerusalem:

He knows what lies ahead for him. The people don't have a clue what Jesus is going to do for them, but they shout Hosanna! (Save us!), rejoicing, and wave palm branches as Jesus rides calmly into the city on a donkey. Jesus sees the darkness that lays ahead of him. Beatings, scourging, people mocking him (maybe a few of the same ones who were celebrating him with Palm branches), a horridly painful death on a Roman cross, separation from God, momentary gloating of Satan.

And yet, he moves forward, facing the seemingly overpowering darkness, knowing that this is not the end of the story.