Today we took our dog to “get her hair done.” The groomer is very considerate of her age and all went well. She is now shorn, comfortable, and beautiful. We also got cartridges at Staples, food at Trader Joes, and worked on Income Taxes. In between we grabbed something to eat. And, oh yes, a conference call about a church we love. This is what retirement is like for us at the moment. And I am grateful that we are still doing as well as being.
But it is Holy Week and in the past, at this time of year, when I was working, I would be overwhelmed with preparation for and leadership in worship services, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Goof Friday, then Easter. Not now. Now I am running around with ordinary things…like everybody else.
So this is what Holy Week is like for most people. The events in Jesus’ life, lived so long ago, that led to his crucifixion and resurrection are not so in front of me. They are more, well, off to the side. In fact, the recitation of such a time of violence and violation in Jesus’ lie is something I would rather ignore. But, we will be attending Maundy Thursday services and will keep Good Friday privately.
The suffering of Jesus reminds me of the suffering of so many people throughout the world today and in the annals of history. How do we bring an end to human induced suffering?
I actually believe that the crucifixion of Jesus helps us answer this question.
As I force myself to focus on Holy Week, I see the once warrior God who became the crusader Christ,of our faith, turning the tables on our reliance on power; God’s offering God’s own life for love of humanity and ultimately mocking the worst that human power can deliver, death. Divine Power speaking to human power and giving hope to the seekers of peace.
The cross, it seems to me is God acting and suffering with a love that seeks to end human suffering, not perpetuate it, that offers forgiveness and grace, and in pursuit of justice seeks not revenge but redemption.
God does not go easy on sin but shows its cost in vivid detail on the cross. Even God s not spared. With the dawning of Easter day, comes the truth that God has power over death. God’s power is life giving even when the end seems final. God incarnate has the last word.
But it seems to me that the message is not just about the end of life and conquest of death itself, it is about what we end up believing about power as we journey through life. Human power and violence is a dead end, empty, for those who exert it and those who believe in it.
Somehow, this message has meaning for me as I go about the mundane details of living and working. It gives me an insight into the mystery of God, the nature of goodness, the meaning our lives can have on earth, and the hope that comes from knowing that the chasm between heaven and earth is more of a veil that can be lifted than a wall that cannot be breached.
And while it took the violence and violation that Jesus’ endured at the hands of corrupt human power during holy week to bring home the message that God’s power is non-violent, the enduring message is that the worst that human power can deliver is powerless in the face of Divine power, that power for peace and good that we are capable of embodying, however imperfectly.
Human well being can only be brought about by the pursuit of justice and peace and the practice of compassion, mercy, and grace. The enduring and triumphant power of the life force embedded in humanity through God’s love cannot be stamped out. Suffering is not God’s will and yet, when it happens, God is there for God was there. And Easter will dawn.
When I finally stop to reflect on holy week, these are my rambling thoughts, some of them. These happenings of another time during what we have come to call, Holy Week, can, for me, enhance, enable, and ennoble even the most trivial aspects of daily life. The God these times help reveal, as the veil in the Temple separating the Holy of Holies from the people is torn in two at Jesus’ death, accompanies me through life, is my compass, and my peace.