Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday- the day the crowds greeted Jesus with cheers and shouts, with spreading their cloaks on the ground, with waving branches and smiling faces. Jesus entered the city on a donkey--meanwhile, on the other side of the city, the Roman rulers entered the city on white horses-symbols of power and authority. What kind of a leader enters a Jerusalem, the city of kings, on a work animal, on a steed owned by peasants--and a borrowed one at that?
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors- that the King of Glory may come in!
Who is this King of Glory?"

These words from Psalm 24 force us to ask- who is this king of glory? What kind of king? and where's the glory?--because shortly after the triumphal entry, things go downhill fast-- Jesus is arrested, betrayed, put to death in a public and shameful way by the Roman authorities--
and yet--in his weakness, Christ shows what kind of King he is, what kind of God He is--a God of power and might, but not the power of oppression or violence. A power that knows what it is to suffer, a power that knows sorrow and grief.
A power that overcomes all that in death. A power that brings life and light where there is only, seemingly, death and darkness.

"Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory"

Midway thru Lent

We are nearly halfway through our Lenten journey. Yesterday the Scriptures in Luke told us to "repent". In the original langauge, "repent" has teh meaning of "turning"- turning our ways back to God, get reoriented when we are lost, finding our way back home. How has your lenten journey helped you do this? Where has your journey taken you? Some people use a labyrinth as a spiritual discipline, either walking it, or using a small, hand sized one, and tracing their fingers through the paths. A labyrinth is not the same as a maze. In a labyrinth, we travel in and out to the center, with times for pause, reflection, and prayer. The idea is not about getting somewhere, or getting out- rather, it is an intentional journey of reflection. Where in your journey have you seen God? In reflecting back, are you aware of where God has moved in your life, unseen at the time? How are you different now, after coming this far along your Lenten journey?