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This blog started as a 'Lenten Writing Project', where we wrote each day in Lent. Now that Summer is here, let's keep up the discipline of writing with a weekly writing challenge! A prompt will be posted each week and anyone is welcome to join in and post their writing here or participate just by reading it.
Every writer has their own special light to add to this blog and all of your writing offerings are appreciated, whether poetry, prose, essay, thoughts, lists or comments and encouragement.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Lenten Writing Prompt #43
What traditions do you have that help you focus your heart and mind for Holy Week? Do you have anything different you plan to do this year? Anything that you used to do that you miss?
Holy Wednesday, Traditional night of Judas Planning betrayal; Traitor.
What have you done? Contemplate falsehood; Examine your failure. Hope for grace?
Preparation for Last Supper: Bread and Wine, Body and Blood. Hunger.
I have always appreciated the way Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday prepare me for the joy of Easter Morning. Since joining this church (Holy Spirit Lutheran Church) I find that walking the Stations of the Cross with other churches through downtown Kirkland to be very meaningful. I am looking forward to this on Friday. There is something very special about the sense of community as we contemplate Christ’s crucifixion together that way.
This season of Lent and particularly this Holy Week take me back to a trip to Mexico I made a few years ago. We happened to be there during Holy Week and were able to see how the week was observed there.
People observed or celebrated in different ways much like in this country. Some did not observe it at all while others took the Holy Week message very much to heart. We would see reenactments of Jesus's carrying of the cross throughout the city. Men would be seen carrying wooden crosses through the streets or along roadsides. It was explained to me that many people would come from miles away to worship at their church, carrying the crosses all the way.
People would go on their knees down the streets and up the stone steps of the centuries-old cathedrals paying homage to Jesus's journey bloodying their own knees as they went.
In some parts of the city there were festivals with music and flowers and dance. Other areas were more somber in their observances.
One difference I did notice was that in the churches and cathedrals there in Mexico, Jesus's image was very much in view. The crosses were not empty like in our churches. Jesus figures were hanging on the crosses complete with the bloody wounds and the crown of thorns. In my friends church there was a large, glass casket with Jesus's body inside, eyes closed. People prayed directly at this casket. At this particular church they had also built a very large spider that seemed to be climbing the outside of the building. The legend was that when the spider finally made it to the top of the spire, that the world was going to end. My friend said that when she was little she was always worried when she thought she saw the spider move.
We observe Lent and Easter and other seasons of the church year but I've often wondered what God would think of our observations and traditions. Are we motivated by tradition or belief? Do our actions truly honor God? Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me," concerning the giving and taking of communion but did he ask us to observe Holy Week in any way other than how we should be living any other day?
It seems that the reason for celebrating Easter morning would be cause for celebration year-round.
Our congregation in partnership with 6 others does a walk of the cross through downtown worth stops for reading of the passion of Jesus. I did that for years even in my in between years. Now It's harder to get away from work. I am thinking of riding my bike to work this Friday (Good Friday). Perhaps this will take it's place. I'll think of Jesus suffering as I pedal over the hills in Clyde Hill and Bellevue through Renton and down into Kent....maybe so..
I love our maunday thursday services, which have changed and continue to change in the last few years and this year. At first, Pr. Mike would wash the feet of three (pre-volunteered) people in the congregation - an older person, a middle-aged person and a baby. It always was very impactful. Then, last year there were a few people that volunteered to wash feet and anyone that wanted to came up and got their feet washed. I can't wait to find out what we do this year. Also, I remember Good Fridays growing up - watching the clock at school or home and spending a moment of silence at noon. At church we had a service (at night) that ended with the stripping of the altar, the silence, and then...the pastor slamming the Bible shut. I always felt that it was akin to when the curtains were torn in the temple after Jesus' death on the cross. Then we all stumbled our way out of the church - disoriented both physically and emotionally - in silence. All these years later, we are still bewildered by the intensity, the violence, the love, the forgiveness of it all.
The solist singing "O'er all the way green palms and blossoms gay, are strewn this day in preparation....." pulled me into a nostalgia trip as it was a song our Jr./Sr. High Choir sang more than once on Palm Sunday. My mind sang the alto part as I mouthed the words with her.
During those early years, I followed a routine for Good Friday and Easter up through my high school years. It did not include Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday, the Lutheran churches in Great Falls, Montana came together at Our Saviors Lutheran for a three hour service which was broken into half-hour segments with each church taking one of those segments. I went to one as part of the above mentioned choir. My friend Sharon and I might to the the nearby "Treat" restaurant for a snack at some point and connect with kids from other churches there. We usually returned for the 2:30 service as that was when our Choir filed down the aisle at the end, standing in the form of a cross singing "O, Sacred Now Wounded. A black veil was draped over the cross on the altar at the end. They led us silently out of the church with the lights turned off. Although it was only 3:00, the church was darker as I recall because dark clouds invariably rolled in and it started raining. I fully believed then that the weather purposely reflected the hour of Jesus' death.
On Sunday morning, when in the children's choir we sang at one of the services; in the older choir, we sang at 8:00 and 9:30. Nevertheless, I tried to be there for the 6:00 service as well because it was so dramatic. Everyone came in silently, the Senior Choir walked back into the formation of a cross. Can't remember for sure, but I think they were humming O, Sacred Head. Then the veil was yanked off the cross, the trumpets and organ sounded out, and we sang "Jesus Christ is Risen Again"
After high school, I worked in a bank that allowed us to take turns going to church on Good Friday afternoon if we wanted to. There was a secular acknowledgement of it being a day worthy of respect, even though not everyone believed the same. I miss that. Aside from the commercial part of Christmas, there seems to be more acknowledgement of the Nativity. Now, in order not to seem to put one religion above the other, business goes on as usual, children don't always have that day off from school.
I've attended Maunday Thursday and Good Friday services in churches I've been a member of as an adult, but not every year. I do like having and taking that time to focus on these parts of Jesus' life and feel the connection with my own spirit. Planning to go to the Stations of the Cross Walk for the first time tomorrow.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHoly Wednesday,
ReplyDeleteTraditional night of Judas
Planning betrayal;
Traitor.
What have you done?
Contemplate falsehood;
Examine your failure.
Hope for grace?
Preparation for Last Supper:
Bread and Wine,
Body and Blood.
Hunger.
I have always appreciated the way Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday prepare me for the joy of Easter Morning. Since joining this church (Holy Spirit Lutheran Church) I find that walking the Stations of the Cross with other churches through downtown Kirkland to be very meaningful. I am looking forward to this on Friday. There is something very special about the sense of community as we contemplate Christ’s crucifixion together that way.
by Pat Mason
ReplyDeleteThis season of Lent and particularly this Holy Week take me back to a trip to Mexico I made a few years ago. We happened to be there during Holy Week and were able to see how the week was observed there.
People observed or celebrated in different ways much like in this country. Some did not observe it at all while others took the Holy Week message very much to heart. We would see reenactments of Jesus's carrying of the cross throughout the city. Men would be seen carrying wooden crosses through the streets or along roadsides. It was explained to me that many people would come from miles away to worship at their church, carrying the crosses all the way.
People would go on their knees down the streets and up the stone steps of the centuries-old cathedrals paying homage to Jesus's journey bloodying their own knees as they went.
In some parts of the city there were festivals with music and flowers and dance. Other areas were more somber in their observances.
One difference I did notice was that in the churches and cathedrals there in Mexico, Jesus's image was very much in view. The crosses were not empty like in our churches. Jesus figures were hanging on the crosses complete with the bloody wounds and the crown of thorns. In my friends church there was a large, glass casket with Jesus's body inside, eyes closed. People prayed directly at this casket.
At this particular church they had also built a very large spider that seemed to be climbing the outside of the building. The legend was that when the spider finally made it to the top of the spire, that the world was going to end. My friend said that when she was little she was always worried when she thought she saw the spider move.
We observe Lent and Easter and other seasons of the church year but I've often wondered what God would think of our observations and traditions.
Are we motivated by tradition or belief? Do our actions truly honor God? Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me," concerning the giving and taking of communion but did he ask us to observe Holy Week in any way other than how we should be living any other day?
It seems that the reason for celebrating Easter morning would be cause for celebration year-round.
Our congregation in partnership with 6 others does a walk of the cross through downtown worth stops for reading of the passion of Jesus. I did that for years even in my in between years. Now It's harder to get away from work. I am thinking of riding my bike to work this Friday (Good Friday). Perhaps this will take it's place. I'll think of Jesus suffering as I pedal over the hills in Clyde Hill and Bellevue through Renton and down into Kent....maybe so..
ReplyDeleteI love our maunday thursday services, which have changed and continue to change in the last few years and this year. At first, Pr. Mike would wash the feet of three (pre-volunteered) people in the congregation - an older person, a middle-aged person and a baby. It always was very impactful. Then, last year there were a few people that volunteered to wash feet and anyone that wanted to came up and got their feet washed. I can't wait to find out what we do this year.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remember Good Fridays growing up - watching the clock at school or home and spending a moment of silence at noon. At church we had a service (at night) that ended with the stripping of the altar, the silence, and then...the pastor slamming the Bible shut. I always felt that it was akin to when the curtains were torn in the temple after Jesus' death on the cross. Then we all stumbled our way out of the church - disoriented both physically and emotionally - in silence. All these years later, we are still bewildered by the intensity, the violence, the love, the forgiveness of it all.
Many Passion Weeks Ago
ReplyDeleteby Marlene Obie
The solist singing "O'er all the way green palms and blossoms gay, are strewn this day in preparation....." pulled me into a nostalgia trip as it was a song our Jr./Sr. High Choir sang more than once on Palm Sunday. My mind sang the alto part as I mouthed the words with her.
During those early years, I followed a routine for Good Friday and Easter up through my high school years. It did not include Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday, the Lutheran churches in Great Falls, Montana came together at Our Saviors Lutheran for a three hour service which was broken into half-hour segments with each church taking one of those segments. I went to one as part of the above mentioned choir. My friend Sharon and I might to the the nearby "Treat" restaurant for a snack at some point and connect with kids from other churches there. We usually returned for the 2:30 service as that was when our Choir filed down the aisle at the end, standing in the form of a cross singing "O, Sacred Now Wounded. A black veil was draped over the cross on the altar at the end. They led us silently out of the church with the lights turned off. Although it was only 3:00, the church was darker as I recall because dark clouds invariably rolled in and it started raining. I fully believed then that the weather purposely reflected the hour of Jesus' death.
On Sunday morning, when in the children's choir we sang at one of the services; in the older choir, we sang at 8:00 and 9:30. Nevertheless, I tried to be there for the 6:00 service as well because it was so dramatic. Everyone came in silently, the Senior Choir walked back into the formation of a cross. Can't remember for sure, but I think they were humming O, Sacred Head. Then the veil was yanked off the cross, the trumpets and organ sounded out, and we sang "Jesus Christ is Risen Again"
After high school, I worked in a bank that allowed us to take turns going to church on Good Friday afternoon if we wanted to. There was a secular acknowledgement of it being a day worthy of respect, even though not everyone believed the same. I miss that. Aside from the commercial part of Christmas, there seems to be more acknowledgement of the Nativity. Now, in order not to seem to put one religion above the other, business goes on as usual, children don't always have that day off from school.
I've attended Maunday Thursday and Good Friday services in churches I've been a member of as an adult, but not every year. I do like having and taking that time to focus on these parts of Jesus' life and feel the connection with my own spirit. Planning to go to the Stations of the Cross Walk for the first time tomorrow.