the crowd began to fade
till only trampled leaves and bark
were left from the parade.
Lest we be fooled because our hearts
have surged with passing praise,
remind us, God, as this week starts,
where Christ has fixed his gaze.
---Thomas Troeger, 1985
Holy Week. What a whiplash-inducing, last set at Wimbledon high-speed volley it is. In the span of 5 days all the people of Jerusalem, it seems, go from hailing Jesus as their new king, triumphant in the Davidic tradition, to loudly demanding his death, blood be on them and their children.
What?
And, #spoileralert, three days later crazy stories start spreading that soon set little pockets of the world on fire. Because you can't keep this Good Man down. All that hate in the world, mixed into a toxic cocktail with all that power, and Love is still stronger.
Told you it was crazy.
But today. Today, it's the day after the parade has passed. and what's left is some palm fronds sitting in a box in the choir room, and a few stray green leaves down the center aisle, and echoes of a celebrating crowd.
And a lonely man, with decisions to make --- about power, and obedience, and sacrifice. A man at the crossroads, with his eye on a cross.
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