Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Drama and the Lesson of Holy Week and Easter

Spring is here and Easter is upon us. In just a couple of weeks we will, once again, hear the story of Jesus’ resurrection. New Life will be the theme of the day. But to get there we must continue through Lent, including the drama of Holy Week. The liturgical calendar of the Church is drama. It lifts up themes and images and understandings which offer us the opportunity to reflect on our faith in new ways. 

The drama of Holy Week begins with a parade and ends with a death. Nothing is as it appears. The celebration and “triumph” of Palm Sunday prove to be fleeting. The hero being greeted by the cheering crowd comes riding in on a donkey and will be executed as a common criminal before the week is out. Most of the crowd, including even his closest followers, will abandon him. Over and over again his message of love and peace and connection with the God who is always present will be misunderstood or ignored. In the end he is buried in a borrowed tomb – a tragic conclusion to such a promising start. 

Except that it doesn’t end there. The true message of the week is that things are seldom as they first appear. We must look beneath the surface and beyond the obvious. We must see with our hearts instead of merely with our eyes. God’s ways are not our ways. Jesus was not distracted by the parade, not dismayed by the misunderstandings, and not silenced by the violence. Through all of the worst that the world could throw at him he remained faithful and steadfast in his mission, his message, and his confidence in God. And in so doing he revealed the path which leads us beyond the apparent tragedy of the week to the ultimate Truth which awaits us when we dare to trust in God. On the other side of the fleeting excitement – on the other side of the misunderstandings – on the other side of the violence – on the other side of the death – there is wild and abundant LIFE. Will you dare to embrace it – dare to be embraced by it – dare to LIVE it?

- Roger
(keeping my feet firmly planted in the flow)


Monday, March 27, 2017

Paying Attention

This is my latest contribution to the Pastor's Column which appears in our local Helena newspaper (the Independent Record).
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It's Spring and Easter is now only two weeks away. For those of us who claim Christianity as our faith tradition Easter is one of the key celebrations of the year. The central message of the day is that in God life always triumphs over death. Theologians and preachers have been unpacking the powerful truths to be found in the Easter message for centuries, with no indication that the exploring will be complete anytime in the foreseeable future. There will always be more to thoughtfully and faithfully ponder. 

Today I find myself reflecting on the formula which is used to determine the day when we celebrate Easter. You may have noticed that it doesn't happen at the same time every year. In fact, it can vary from year to year by almost a month. Last year it occurred on March 27th. This year it will occur on April 16th. The reason for this seemingly odd behavior has to do with the aforementioned formula. Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.