Dear Friends,

This morning we will gather outside of the church, palm branches s in hand, to mark our entry into Holy Week. We will sing out our Hosannas as we process through the churchyard and into the church, remembering once again the moment when Jesus enters Jerusalem, moving with intention and deliberation into what waits for him there.

In some respects, the final stretch of Jesus’ path has been laid out for him. We know what will happen to him after he enters the city. We know the terrible road he will walk to the cross. Yet we also need to remind ourselves that Jesus was not a passive participant in the story that plays itself out. He isn’t dragged into Jerusalem, nor does he slink into the city on the sly. In the words of one writer, “Jesus never ceases to make the road he walks his own, a road that he chooses to walk with courage and clarity.”

This week invites us to consider how we are moving through our own journey--through Lent as well as through life. Are we allowing ourselves to be swept along by circumstances, traveling our road by default? Or are we seeking to walk with intention and discernment, creating our path with some measure of the courage and clarity by which Jesus walked his, even in the midst of forces that may lie beyond our control?

Wednesday night, during the last session of our “Way of Love” Lenten series, we reflected with our colleagues from St. Peter’s on the seven practices that Jesus' way of life embodied – Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Rest and Go. I was asked to offer an example of the last two of these, “Rest” and “Go.” As I prepared my remarks, I acknowledged that there is a time for stillness. A time for waiting for Christ as he makes his life-giving way toward us. But there is also a time to be in motion, to set out on a path, knowing that although God is everywhere, and always with us, we sometimes need a journey in order to meet God--and ourselves--anew.

This is a week to ask, how do we meet God in motion? How do we move toward the One who is already making his way toward us? Whatever circumstance we may find ourselves in, how do we participate in creating our path? What road is calling to us and has our name written on its cobblestones? Will we go? 

Blessings on your journey through Holy Week. God awaits you on the way.

In Christ,

Amelie+