Greetings my beloved friends,
Holy Week blessings, dear ones. Those In the Christian tradition are journeying from Palm Sunday to Easter and those in the Jewish tradition have begun the sacred 8-day journey of Passover. For me, I am finding this year's Holy Week - amidst the growing fears and anxieties of a global pandemic - to be particularly poignant.
There is so much more to the story of Jesus' final days than just the feel-good Hosannahs of Palm Sunday and the glorious Alleluias of Easter morning. Holy Week is gritty. It's messy. It's human. It's divine. Jesus gets angry, teaches, washes dirty feet, gathers with friends, observes Passover, feels betrayed, prays, heals a lopped-off ear, suffers an unfathomably brutal death and then forgives his persecutors. All in one week!
Celebrating the hope of Easter without acknowledging the entirety of Holy Week only tells part of the whole, life-giving story. So, during these last few days of Holy Week I invite you to embrace the fullness of the story...
- feel Jesus' tender touch while he washes your feet on Maundy Thursday,
- agonize over places of betrayal, rejection and suffering on Good Friday
- observe sabbath rest even amidst uncertainty on Holy Saturday,
Then, grounded in an honest recognition of life's struggles, the brilliant Easter morning sun will rise with even more extraordinary hope for our daily living!
Over the next few days, I will be sending you short messages of encouragement - poems and prayers that have been bubbling up in me over the past few weeks. I pray that you will find them to be a meaningful addition to your Holy Week journey.
Be encouraged, my friends.
With strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Sharon
Sharon Seyfarth Garner
Director, Belly of the Whale Ministries
P.S. The photo is of the "Hope Bench" at the Gathering Place where a brick is placed in the walkway in memory of my dad. The words on his brick are some of my dad's favorites, "Thank you Thank you Thank you."
