Palms and God's Presence

            When I was a kid, Palm Sunday was a day to really celebrate.  We all got Palm crosses at church, took them home and tucked them behind a mirror or a picture, or anywhere that we could.  We heard the story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, or a colt with the people cheering.  We thought that was a wonderful tribute to our Lord.

            Later in my life, I began to realize what Palm Sunday is all about.  How the cheers of the population soon changed to jeers and how the King of the Jews was mocked, scorned by the high priests, turned over to Pilate and ultimately crucified.  Palm Sunday wasn’t a day to cheer so much as it was a day to weep.

            I love the day because of what it says about God’s presence in our lives, from the beginning to the end, every day.  God is present even when we think we are the most important person on earth; and God is present when we are at the bottom of our lives without friends or meaning.  God is present to provide hope when we are hopeless and meaning when we can’t find the first thing about it.  The cry from the cross of Jesus: my God, my God, why have you forsaken me is the cry of all of us at some point in our lives, when power is gone and meaning has fled.  Sometimes when we look at the world, all that we see is pain and suffering.  God is present in all of that, leading us to supply hope and meaning for those in the worst of straits and to help bring out of darkness the people who are trapped in despair. 

            It is right that the celebration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem ends in the ongoing darkness of Holy Week and the movement toward Good Friday and the Way of the Cross.  The celebration of Easter is only a vague hope at this time.  We really know nothing about resurrection except what Jesus told his disciples during his time on this earth.  We have never seen a resurrection and we don’t understand it at all.  That is one of the reasons that death becomes so frightening to us.  The promise of resurrection is not something that we want to emphasize during this holiest time of the year.  This day and the coming week is a statement by God of God’s continuing, ongoing presence in our lives and in this world, no matter what it is that happens. 

            Let’s get through this fateful day and the coming week with hope and know that our loving God waits with us for the Glory of Easter.  Tuck your palm crosses behind your mirrors and look at them from time to time and let them be a reminder of God’s constant presence in your life.