Maundy Memories

Last updated on: October 14, 2015 at 8:56 pm by Amy Butler

Maundy Memories 2015-10-14T20:56:23-04:00 Amy Butler

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.

Maundy Thursday is one of the days I fell in love with Jesus.

(I say one of the days because some of us are slow learners and it takes repeated experience to get the idea.)

It was Maundy Thursday 1990 when I had an epiphany that changed the way I understood my faith. I don’t know why it took so long for me to get the idea (20 years, to be exact) but the experience was like someone pulling up the shade on a window so I could finally see the view I knew was there because I’d been staring for years at the thin cracks of light around the edges.

As I’ve said before, I did not grow up with much appreciation for liturgical structure in the church and, frankly, had no idea what Maundy Thursday was. In retrospect this ignorance is quite surprising given the fact that I was an every Sunday kind of kid, but, as my friend Carol says, “There it is . . . !”

That year I attended a Maundy Thursday service at the church I was attending while in college because I was curious and also because I was very, very holy back then (my, how things change!).

There were probably 15 people at the service. The lights were dim and the pastor read the scripture account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Then we all had to get up and stand in a circle. (I remember being curious about what was next; I now know that, had I not been an extrovert, this instruction would have terrified me beyond belief.) This was what Jesus wanted most to leave with his disciples, the pastor explained as we gathered in the circle: his final admonition that we should be busy loving each other. Then, we took a towel and symbolically washed each other’s hands.

I never knew.

I never knew that’s what Jesus’ final message to his ragtag group of disciples was.

I guess I grew up fixated on Good Friday, when the pastor would turn off all the lights and we’d wait for the huge slam of the Bible on the altar—our cue to leave in silence. We heard about torture and whipping, about Jesus struggling to carry the cross, about abandonment and blood and pain and death.

But we never talked about loving each other.

Maundy Thursday is the day I fell in love with Jesus because I finally realized that it wasn’t the horror of Good Friday that gives substance to my faith . . . it’s the mandate of Maundy Thursday: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Living in Relationship

Practicing Discipleship

Lent

Previous Post

April 12, 2006

The Sound of Silence

Next Post

April 14, 2006 Loss

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Answering the Call Being the Church Curating Wisdom Laughing Out Loud Living in Relationship Practicing Discipleship Reclaiming Baptist Speaking from the Pulpit Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 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 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005

Search for:

Maundy Memories

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Who healed a blind man by making mud and placing it on his eyes?