As long as we are not alone.....

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... you are with me. (Psalm 23)

Remembering the horrifying pictures of 9/11.

Hundreds, trapped high above ground, as the heat grew more intense, felt they had no choice but to jump to their deaths.

Remember those pictures? Many were holding hands.
Most cases, with complete strangers.

Why? Jumping to their deaths, they chose to attach themselves to another human being.

We are made for community. We were not meant to live this life alone.

In that sense we imitate the Holy Trinity. The Holy Community.

In Mark 3:13-14 we read:

     Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to
     him those he wanted, and they came to him.

     He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--
     that they might be with him....


He called those he wanted....that they might be with him.

Jesus at Gethsemane, just before his arrest, to his disciples: My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. (Matthew 26:38)

Jesus, the God-man.

Fully divine  -  Fully human.

He did not want to be alone.

"And surely I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20)

                 ....and so we are never alone!

Pondering the meaning of Easter -- Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar.

It is occurs 46 days before Easter Sunday, making it a moveable feast, and can occur as early as February 4 and as late as March 10. (Easter Sunday comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox). 

Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness, fasting, enduring the temptations of Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the observance of this time in Christ's life, and is marked by Christians with prayer and fasting.

Why is it called Ash Wednesday?

It gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of its adherents (in the shape of a cross) as a reminder and celebration of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God.

At most services, the Penitential Psalms are read, especially Psalm 51.

Traditionally, ashes used are gathered from the burning of the palms used in the celebration of Palm Sunday the year before.

Ashes were used in biblical times to express mourning, as we see often in the Bible, especially in regard to repentance for one's own sins. 

JOB - "...I...repent in dust and ashes.." (Job 42:6)

JEREMIAH - calls for repentance, "gird in sackcloth and roll in ashes" (Jeremiah 6:26)

DANIEL - "I turned to the LORD God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes"
(Daniel 9:3)

And there are many other examples.


When did the observance of Ash Wednesday begin?

We have clear evidence that it was celebrated around 960 AD. And by the 12th century we have evidence that people began burning the palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday for the ashes.

However you observe the day, it marks the period when we turn our hearts to the cross and the when we earnestly confess our sins and turn to Him for salvation, and receive the gift of freedom that God, in His grace, has offered us.

What is Lent?

Lent begins Ash Wednesday. Christians repent of their sins, pray and fast. They purposefully make changes in their lives.

The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and we focus on those last days Christ was on earth before He was arrested and crucified.

The word Lent comes from an old Latin word meaning lengthen, referring to the longer hours of daylight indicating the coming of spring.

What about the days?

There are more than 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter and yet we refer to the 40 days of Lent ?-- here's the deal about that: We don't count Sundays, because each Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, so in getting the total of 40 days, we count only Monday through Saturdays.

   Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

   according to your great compassion

   blot out my transgressions...

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are proved right

when you speak

and justified when you judge...

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence...

Restore to me the joy of your salvation...

--Psalm 51

Approaching Easter - That Historic Morning

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

"Woman," he said, "who is it you are looking for?

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means 'Teacher').

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, "I am returned to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
                      -- John 20

Approaching Easter - His last Days - Philip Yancey

How Christ spent His last weeks on earth:

Holy Week - Crucifixion - Resurrection - 40 days - His ascension back to eternal glory


This excerpt is from Philip Yancey's message at the memorial service for victims of the Virginia Tech shootings -- April, 2007


We gather here as Christians, and as such aspire to follow One who came from God two thousand years ago.

Read through the Gospels and you'll find only one scene in which someone addresses Jesus directly as God: "My Lord and my God."

It was 'doubting Thomas,' the disciple stuck in sadness, the last holdout against believing the incredible news of the resurrection.

Jesus appeared to Thomas in His newly transformed body, obliterating Thomas' doubts.

What prompted that outburst of belief, however -- "My Lord and my God" -- was the presence of scars. Feel my hands, Jesus told him. Touch my side. Finger my scars.

In a flash of revelation Thomas saw the wonder of Almighty God, the Lord of the universe, stooping to take on our pain, to complete the union with humanity.

Not even God remained exempt from pain. God joined us and fully shared our human condition, including its distress. Thomas recognized in that pattern the most foundational truth of the universe: that God is love.

To love means to hurt, to grieve.

Pain manifests life.

Approaching Easter - The Women

As the cross approached, the role of women in the band of disciples became more prominent.

A woman anointed the Messiah as he approached the triumphal entry.

Women were faithful to the end at the cross.

They had the courage to follow Joseph of Arimathea
as he made his way to Pilate to request the body and on to the tomb.

Thereby the women knew where Jesus was buried.

On Saturday evening it was the women who ventured out to buy spices for the anointing of his body.

Sunday morning they made their way to the tomb, heard the glorious yet frightening word of the angels, overcame their fears and took the good news to the absent disciples

All week they displayed persistence and courage.

To them the church remains forever in debt.



 -- From Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, by
     Kenneth Bailey

~~~~~~~~~~~

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen, just as He said. Come and see where He lay and then go quickly and tell His disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.' There you will see Him. Now I have told you."   Matthew 28:1-7