At Palm Sunday Lake (a holy week meditation)

Last updated on: March 30, 2015 at 9:00 am by Kaitlin B. Curtice

At Palm Sunday Lake (a holy week meditation) 2015-03-30T09:00:00-04:00 Kaitlin B. Curtice

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This last weekend leading up to Palm Sunday didn’t pan out exactly the way we thought it would. We planned for things and they seemed to go poorly; tried to remind ourselves to breathe deeply, and we kept saying, Sorry. Sorry it ended up like this.

But Sunday afternoon, it was all redeemed. We took a family nap, and I decided it was time for a little adventure, hoping to God it would be a well-chosen one.

There’s a lake about 5 minutes from our apartment complex that is nestled into a beautiful little community of houses. There’s a walking path around it, a bridge at one end, swings and benches and families playing with toy speedboats on the water, fishes trying to dodge their wake.

We sat on the grass and ate tortilla chips and barley-corn dip, tabouleh, and avocado. We drank mango flavored LaCroix. We smiled and looked at the sky and laughed at our crazy boys. We remembered where we came from and talked about where we’re going.

I told Travis that I need this– little celebrations along the way, little traditions, like coming to this lake every Palm Sunday for as long as we live in Atlanta. Like camping every summer as the semester ends, a time for our family to remember and process and celebrate that we’ve made it one step further, still fully alive.

Now, we’re entering into this tradition of Holy Week, and I can already feel the weight I’m putting on myself. I’m already forgetting the glory of yesterday, and counting my mistakes one by one– that moment I was impatient with Eliot, that totally selfish thought, for wanting to tune out completely for a day and forget everything around me.

And I’m sitting in Eliot’s bed with him as he falls asleep, and I’m thinking about all the tantrums he’s thrown this morning, because he’s tired, he’s a little sick, because, because, because…

and I think again about Holy Week.

Holy Week isn’t about remembering how holy we feel we need to be.

Holy week isn’t about tallying up our own self-righteous acts of gallantry or whipping our own backs over the weight of our sin.

It’s remembering the origin of all goodness, in the eyes of Jesus. It’s watching our reflection there, watching ourselves transform from rags to glory.

It’s about hearing His voice echo through the generations, from those days when He actually walked the road to His death until today, where He stands beside us, still leading the way.

Looking in His face leaves us with nothing but pure reflection, nothing but lovingkindness and mercy.

It leaves us celebrating, calling ourselves chosen and held and blessed.

It leaves us longing to sit on the grass as the cool breeze wafts across the lake water, as the clouds slowly shift across the azure sky, and we are breathlessly content. Then and there, we tally up all the blessings, all the stories of triumph of faithfulness.

There we say, This is all holy, indeed.

And the lenten road to calvary and resurrection seems more real and tangible for us every day, because His living gives us room to thrive and remember every good gift.

Happy Holy Week, friends.

Previous Post

March 28, 2015

When Things Don't Go My Way (a lesson in expectation)

Next Post

April 4, 2015 The Easter Progression

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent 2016 Adventure Community & One Another Contemplation Lent 2016 Lessons Motherhood Native American Heritage Month 2017 Native American Spirituality Politics & Social Justice Prayer Remembrance Seven Gratitudes Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 August 2013 March 2013 February 2013 November 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz