When does Holy Week begin?  Today?  Seems like an obvious question, and even more obvious answer.  In some ways, I am suggesting that Holy Week began the moment Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in Eden.  At least, the journey to Holy Week began.  The Lord God made Holy Week possible in his promise of the woman’s seed.  Good news to the rescue, even in the direst of moments.  Good news of God’s promises in Jesus.

Palm Sunday was a hilly day.  Jesus began on the Mount of Olives.  He rode down the hill, across the valley and then up the hill to Jerusalem.  Holy Week was a week of ups and downs for him.  Over those two hills, a third hill loomed, even though it was not as high as the first two.  Golgotha was there, outside walls.  It beckoned to Jesus from Friday as the crowds cheered him on Sunday.

One tradition in the Church is to burn the palms of Palm Sunday, reducing them to ashes.  Those ashes are saved and anoint the foreheads of worshipers on Ash Wednesday.  Usually in the shape of a cross.  The cross on a hill.  Beginnings.  Endings.  Beginnings.

If you, or someone you know, is feeling like there are only endings left, take heart today.  The Lord God through his Christ does not conclude his work in our lives with endings.  He is always beginning for us, with us, in us, the New Life that is ours in Jesus.  Always beginning.  Always beginnings.  In Jesus.

I want to suggest you take a palm in hand today.  Hold hands with a loved one, a friend, a brother or sister in Christ.  Find a hill to ascend, palm in palm.  When you get to the top, stand for a bit, silently.  Consider the Lord’s beginnings stretching before you.  As surely as your companion is with you, be reminded that Christ said, “I am with you always.”  Then shout ‘Hosanna.’

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado