Holy Week

Holy Week

/ a samaritan woman / 1 Comment

Holy Week is nearly done, but I can’t let it go by without sharing this thought: Humanity really doesn’t change.

It doesn’t. In spite of technological, scientific, medical and other advances, people remain…people. Holy Week slaps us in the face with that fact.

Yesterday’s Darling is today’s Outcast. Jesus rode into Jerusalem in triumph, to adoring crowds. He was (and remains) the Ultimate Influencer. One week after receiving a hero’s welcome in Jerusalem, he was crucified. Really, have times changed? He was the ultimate badass that the crowd loved, turning over tables and talking trash to The Powers That Be. The crowds couldn’t get enough of him. A week later, he’d been deplatformed in the worst possible way.

Today, we can consider any number of popular figures, politicians, leaders, entertainers, commentators, etc. etc. etc. and (whether you love or hate ’em) you’ll see how swiftly the tide can turn. This should clue us that human opinions have absolutely nothing to do with facts. (Pilate said to him, ‘what is truth?’ – John 18:38 or paraphrased in Jesus Christ Superstar by Pilate: “What is truth? Is mine the same as yours?” a profound question, and one that has stayed with me for decades.) The details change, but human nature hasn’t.

And really…what is truth? Why are we so quick to proclaim someone a Savior or Messiah – and then turn on them when WE don’t think they deliver like we think they should? It’s a paradox: We think we need someone/something greater than ourselves to drag our sorry rears out of the muck…but then, we reject that someone because they’re not what we expect or think we want. We get nasty and really, really ugly.

Fortunately, there is a Love that will save us from ourselves, in spite of ourselves. Being human is a privilege, a gift, even though it is a tangled, messy, crazy, emotional journey. Never forget that Love came down at Christmas, or the incredible example of love on Good Friday. Jesus joins us on that human journey, and reminds us that in spite of our human craziness, we are worthy of love. And we are loved.

Holy Week: Canceled?!

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Louisiana is one of the states hardest hit by CoVid-19. Consequently, we are all under a “Stay at Home” mandate – even if the local Wal-Mart parking lot indicates otherwise. Everything has been canceled, even regular Sunday church services.  Like many others, our own Epiphany church has gone to online services, calling us to a new experience of community through technology. (As I often say, technology is wonderful…when it works. Plans for streaming a live service were abandoned when the wi-fi service inside of the church proved to be less than robust. Hence, it was recorded.)

As our choir director, Leon, is safely tucked away in a neighboring state taking care of his elderly and high risk parents, I received a call from Fr. Matt asking about help with music. So last Sunday, Fr. Matt, Deacon Andrew and I gathered for Morning Prayer in a quiet church. Andrew and I played guitars and sang, and  Matthew 18:20 became very real to me.

I was reviewing guitar translations of hymns and looking ahead. Palm Sunday. Easter. Holy Week.

Holy Week. Holy –!

I can tolerate Palm Sunday without a Procession of the Palms. I can even tolerate – barely – Easter without trumpet, choir, full-on-“smells and bells,” etc.

But Holy Week without my church family?

This…is gonna be a challenge.

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It’s not the music. While Maundy Thursday is filled with music I love, most of it is easily translatable to guitar. It’s not even daily church attendance, as I don’t make it on the Monday or Tuesday. I do love the Tenebrae service on Wednesday, though.

Frankly, I’m not sure exactly what it is, except that the prospect of missing it leaves me feeling a bit lost.

Well, maybe feeling a bit lost is what Holy Week is all about.

I should know that; I’ve written songs about it. Yet this feeling of loss and of being lost are different. I know it’s nothing like Christ’s disciples felt: After an enthusiastic welcome into Jerusalem, their whole world fell apart as they watched their beloved rabbi captured, condemned in a farce of a trial, tortured and crucified. They watched, helpless, without the knowledge of what was to come. How can my own feelings possibly have anything to do with what they were experiencing?

How can my own feelings be even remotely related to what Jesus suffered and what His followers felt?

Perhaps those are questions to ponder during this upcoming Holy Week.

Our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Jacob Owensby (affectionately known as “Bishop Jake”) sent out an email to members of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana this week, stressing the need to stay home and reminding us that we don’t stay put out of our own desire for self-preservation. Rather, we do so in order to slow the spread of the illness and to not overwhelm our medical system. He points out “This makes it possible for those needing a hospital bed and life-saving equipment to have access to them. We will literally be saving our neighbors’ lives. That sounds like love to me.”

That sounds like love to me.

Amen.

Epiphany welcomes all to our virtual worship. I’ll be posting them here.