For Palm Sunday

For Palm Sunday and Holy Week

I am reminded as I prepare to preach, that the Palm Sunday liturgy starts with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and it ends with his death upon the cross. The most lovely and the worst of human capacity all retold in the same drama, all part of the same moment in time. We walk through Holy Week, through this terrible drama, desperately hoping for Easter, worrying that Easter will never come.

My life has seen a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes good friends can become treacherous overnight. Sometimes enemies turn and lend a hand and change the course of one's life. Living in this human frame, we are all tossed between beauty and horror, and often find it hard to hold on. It can be a scary ride. My prayer as we enter into this holy week, is that each of us can gain a hold on the constancy of God. In the midst of turbulence, we might hear the solid promise of a loving God. That each of us, in the dark might sense the light breaking in our hearts.

Dear God,
find me in this dark hour,
hold me as I face the worry and the shame.
Listen to my heart, it races in this terror,
my breath is halting, and I am afraid.
But you God, are the Creator of light and dark,
you bend the rainbow and stir the breeze
so I might hear music on the night wind.
Help me to lie down and take rest in the midst of this tossing,
help me to rest on troubled seas,
help me to rejoice in the morning
for you are doing a new thing, you are making all things new.
Help me to hold tight for one more day,
so that I might sing praises in the morning light . Amen.