It is Holy Week.
Of all the weeks of the year, this is one I wish I could slow down and experience as infinity time. Yet it is not to be, so I do what I can to savor the significance of each of these specific days that flow into one whole holy week. Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Silent Saturday, Resurrection Sunday. All deeply powerful in their own right, together they are something to behold.
Lo and Behold.
“Lo” means to look. “Behold” means to reflect on and internalize what you see. Another definition of “behold” is to pay attention to something significant. “Behold” is used to draw the reader’s attention to a specific point, event, or truth. It’s a way of saying “notice this,” “see what’s happening,” or “take notice of this important detail”.
I long to truly behold this week.
I want to draw my (and your) attention to a poem by Luci Shaw. It’s on Palm Sunday’s entry in Between Midnight and Dawn compiled by Sarah Arthur. Here it is:
“He who would be great among you…”
Luci Shaw (naturalized U.S. citizen, contemporary)
Matthew 20:26
You, whose birth broke all the social and biological rules–
son of the poor who was worshiped as a king–
you were the kind who used a new math to multiply
bread, fish, faith. You practiced a radical sociology:
rehabilitating call girls and con men.
You valued women and other minority groups.
A family practitioner, you specialized in heart transplants.
Creator, healer, shepherd, storyteller,
innovator, weather-maker, exorcist, iconoclast,
seeker, seer, motive-sifter, you were always beyond, above us,
ahead of your time, and ours.
And we would like to be like you!
Bold as the Boanerges we hear ourselves demand:
“Admit us to your inner circle.
Grant us degree in all the liberal arts of heaven.”
Why our belligerence? Why does this whiff of fame and power smell so sweet?
Why must we compete
to be first? Have we forgotten
how you took, so simply, cool water
and a towel for our feet?
I would love a degree in all the liberal arts of heaven.
Wouldn’t you love that too? Maybe I am projecting here, but that would be an incredible realm of knowledge and experience to learn and share with others.
Today, may all sorts of hallelujahs and praise erupt from my heart and life. May the fronds of my words and actions be waved today, bringing You praise.
Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
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