Dear Partner in Ministry,
We find ourselves in the Paschal Triduum, or three days, between Maundy Thursday and the Easter Resurrection. Perhaps more than during any other period in the Christian calendar, we can feel the "already and not yet" of Jesus' reign. We saw a glimpse of celebration on Palm Sunday, and yet so much happens before Jesus rises from the empty tomb. As we dwell in this interim time, anticipating the glory that lays ahead, we offer you this poem, Holy Week, by Steve Garnaas-Holmes.
Now then, put down your palms.
This is the astonishing story of ruin,
a devastating drama of weakness and failure.
Our Savior will attain no victory.
He will defy the Empire of Fear.
We will deny him.
The Empire will have its way.
We will be left with humiliation and sorrow.
Broken bread, shared with betrayers.
Spilled wine, not understood yet.
Hymns drowned out by taunts and curses.
Palms crushed under crowds chanting for death.
The Emperor’s order,
and the fear with which we put him up to it.
Blood and nails in our otherwise empty hands.
On washed feet we run away.
This is the horrible good news,
the awful grace that redeems our lives
by taking them out of our hands.
We are shattered. And in that, in that,
God is present—embodied and powerful.
Our rebellion against love is complete,
and Love overthrows it all.
The Beloved is inside our suffering and our evil
and from there, nowhere lofty, loosens it,
forgives and heals, makes of our grave a womb,
and with terrifying gentleness invites us in.
with anticipation and hope,
Pastors Jessica and Meghan
