after the service, candles out...
We had a double start to Palm Sunday: first in the hall, for those who wanted to walk around the neighbourhood; then in the church, for those who preferred a less strenuous start. We came back together to sing hosanna,and turned our thoughts to the cross.
Palm Sunday asks us to engage very publicly with the contradictions of our faith. At first we are eager to follow Christ and give him everything. But then, we get a glimpse of what that really means, and run the other way: yielding to the pressure of the crowd, giving in to our fear, betraying love, friendship and all our best dreams and visions.
So today, as we moved from ‘Hosanna’ to ‘Crucify’ we thought about how we all have a hand in the cross — how we are complicit in the cycles of violence that led to Jesus’ death. We traced round our hands, and the children cut out hand prints. We placed them at the altar, and committed ourselves again to walk with Jesus through death and into life.
preparing the way: paper for palms
