Monday, April 18, 2011

Be Watchful


Hosanna.

Not a word we use much anymore. Perhaps that is our loss.

Palm Sunday marks the big Hosanna day on the calendar -- a remembrance of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. "Save Us Now" is the message of the exclamation; Jesus, the object of the message, bears the weight of the adulation coupled with the knowledge of the unfolding events. We have played the scene out in our collective minds for centuries. We know how the story ends. We risk rushing headlong into Easter Sunday without so much as a glance into the events of this week.

Holy Week slowly unfolds before us like flowers in time-lapse photography.

We've heard the story before; we know the characters.

Sometimes old, old stories need a fresh look to see something we do not expect to see.

Be watchful.

Look closely this week. Look into the eyes of those you may pass without intending to fully communicate -- the cashier at the grocery whom you may not expect to know. If you look closely, she might just be someone you've known all her life. That happened to me yesterday.
She has a name and a story. Pay attention.

Greet your loved ones like you mean it when you see them. Be done with perfunctory, mechanical movements and habitual auto-pilot actions. Let your send-off and welcome-home -- if you have that option -- be a genuine moment of joy.

Reclaim a little joy in each day.

If you have someone to hug, hug like you mean it.

Hosanna means to me this week: Save us from weak resignation.

Save us from adulterated, watered-down living: one part faith and two parts worldliness.

Save us from an anemic, white bread life when God offers us a feast for the journey.

Save us now!

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