From one pace to the next

 As Lent began this year I remember saying that we were taking things slowly. There were ideas of books that you could read over the period. This week, as we enter Holy Week, we are preparing for things to speed up again. As we enter into Holy Week we do so knowing that we are walking with Jesus the last week of His time on earth. This week is a challenge, it is full of emotion, for me a number of years ago it was a time when I injured myself. One Holy Week I helped strip the altar on Maundy Thursday, I propelled backwards and was caught by the Verger. I was told to sit and be quiet in the vestry. Earlier in that week I had put a ring on my finger and it had got stuck. My finger had started to turn blue and the quickest help for me to have the ring removed was a fire engine. I didn’t expect a full fire engine to pull up at the Vicarage with flashing lights and sirens. The next year I fell over walking to a school. I was rushed into the school office and my wounds were tended to. The head teacher thought I had been attacked and was going to phone the police. I explained that I had simply fallen over. The year after that - Holy Week happened without me injuring myself or anyone else.

I told some people and it was felt that I was entering into Holy Week in much too graphic a way. I agreed.

Holy Week the first time was certainly dramatic, it was certainly confusing, it was certainly sad. From the excitement of entering Jerusalem with Jesus being hailed as King and being greeted with palm branches to the Friday with some of the same people calling for Jesus to be crucified, we go through a series of emotions.

As we enter into Holy Week we are encouraged to praise God, we are encouraged by Maundy Thursday to remember Jesus’ last meal with the disciples, a meal at which He gave us a way to remember Him as we share in the Eucharist together. Then, of course, on Good Friday there is the pain of remembering Jesus on the Cross and the fact that this was all done for us. Jesus died so that we might live forever and know Him, so we could have a relationship with Him.

It is fast paced, and I wonder how easy it is to move from one pace to another so quickly. Maybe it is all ok really. We are looking with the knowledge that everything is going to be fine. Love has won. God has won, and as we remember we do so knowing that the love of God is with us always.

Maybe this means that we can approach this week expecting to be transformed. We don’t have to rush but we can be quiet and slow paced if we want, all we need to do is to take time and think. To think about the love of God. To take time to pray that we will be more like God every day.

I would like to finish with a prayer from my choice of Lenten book this year.

Let us pray

Holy God, help me to walk the way of the cross of Jesus. As I let go of my way, may I find the path to life in your holy Way. Amen.