Palm Sunday

Greetings on the cusp of Holy Week; the heart and soul of our sacred story.

One of my favorite aspects of Holy Week is the deep connection our great story has to the natural world in all aspects. On Palm Sunday we celebrate Jesus by waving plants: the source of oxygen that allows us breath itself. On Good Friday, we grieve the wounds inflicted on Jesus' very human body and mind. On Holy Saturday, after our stories tell us Jesus descends into the depths, battles death, and defeats it once and for all, our Easter Vigil service begins in the dark, symbolizing the darkness of the world just before the dawning of Creation. We then recreate that dawning by lighting a sacred fire. The date of Easter itself is set according to the moon cycle: the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. Yes, the moon, a sign of constant change and yet complete consistency, a symbol of enlightenment and illumination - and a little bit of mysticism and mystery - sets the stage.

The mysticism and mystery is what pulls and tugs at my heart. I invite you to let it pull and tug at yours, too. Let the moon illuminate new aspects of this story for you this year. Let your breath rise and fall with Jesus' breath this coming week. Let yourself feel the earthy darkness of Good Friday, the rawness of Holy Saturday, and the sacred fire of Easter Vigil. And let the spark of the Divine rise in your heart on Easter Morning like the very first sunrise, over a world that is always being made new.

Your Worship Team and Altar Guild, along with some pretty amazing support from this pretty amazing community have many ways for you to engage with Holy Week this year. I invite you to attend as many as you're able. Whether you participate in community or at home, I am sending Holy Week blessings to each of you.