Palm Sunday Reflection
God is the great storyteller. Gods’ story is one that begins with the Word that speaks order out of the chaos, brings order out of disorder. When we gaze into the night sky, we behold the far and distant past that speaks to us of creation’s Majesty and God’s glory. The art tells the story of the artist.
The stones themselves will shout the glory of God. There is absolutely nothing that can stop creation from reflecting the creator. There were many who tried to stop the story of Jesus being unfolded. But the night of fear, brutality, hatred, violence and bloodshed always ends in the daybreak of hope, grace, restoration and resurrection. This is the way of creation and recreation out of darkness and chaos. Something dies and something new and wonderful is born. The way of Jesus is our way also.
As the Birther of the cosmos, Abwoon D’Bashmaya, God’s fingerprints are to be found everywhere in creation. From our own birthing at God’s fingers, this creative storytelling is the tapestry into which our lives have also been woven. This is the part of the story that we remembered on Ash Wednesday. This is God the artist in relationship with creation and the unfolding story of our journey together.
To recover this storyline we have gone through this lent by travelling together as a people and as a family into the desert and onto the high places. The nature of the story is to be in relationship between storyteller, story and the listener. But this is never a simple linear flow, for it requires a dynamic exchange between the artist and the artist’s creation; the art also talks to the artist!
As the story of God unfolds, so also our own stories must be shared for they are intertwined. Our own stories of hope, grace, restoration and resurrection begin also with the stories of the dark night, our failures, sorrows and regrets. By speaking our stories in the presence of love, healing and restoration begins. The stories that remain untold invalidate our pain and the sufferings of our brothers and sisters.
There are many who would silence our stories. Darkness and sin have also paid attention and gained a foothold in the sanctuary where we should have been safe. This is the dark power that seeks to silence our stories but Jesus has shown us the way. Our gathering of the peoples and our communities need to recreate sacred spaces where we can speak honestly about the places where Jesus has met us with grace and mercy and compassion and healing and forgiveness. These sacred spaces must exclude judgment, condemnation, rejection, gossip, or shame. To call the lives of others disordered, is to judge them godless and unworthy; is to relegate God’s work a failure.
We need to recreate grace filled communities committed to faithful stewardship of the stories that our souls desire to tell. This is the new Damietta project of restructuring at grass root level, when we embody Jesus’ grace and mercy to one another, we are freed to speak our truth without fear. Speaking truth in humility reflects the creators Word Jesus, reflects peace, joy and beauty.
The great story of Palm Sunday enfolds us also in God’s story. We are there with the crowds accompanying Jesus into the city. We are present to each other and to Jesus as we walk together, waving palms and olive branches chanting God’s praises. Swaying and singing together as one people, the darkness cannot stop us, the bloodshed cannot stop us. Together as humble people of hope, as people of the resurrection, we will journey with Jesus through the chaos, the pain and the bloodshed and into the dawn of a new day.
As we move into the consciousness of the creator, each moment of grace greets us, everything seems to fall into place so naturally. Whatever we need, we find; as we also call out “The Master needs it,” and all obstacles are removed.
We pray that as a gathered people and as a community, we may not betray our young people, the old or the poor, the victims of abuse; those who have been excluded and those are fearful of their future. We pray for all those whose lives have been torn apart by our judgement of lives lived that we term disordered and godless. Lord, we thank you for the many humble people who enter Jerusalem in peace. As we think of them, we praise you at the top of our voices and cry out, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”
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