Journeys…
As a child… I recall the sense of excitement I felt at the thought of visiting my Masi ji’s home in Coventry and being able to meet up with my cousins. You might think er… not exactly the most epic of adventures Cham! Well, let me explain… it was a huge thing for us. The journey to get to Coventry was by no means a smooth ride. We had no car, so travelled by bus, a number of buses in fact. In the midst of the excitement, there were parts of the journey I didn’t enjoy e.g. being on the bus – which seemed to take forever, the smell of cigarettes floating down from the top deck (that ages me!), the fumes in the bus station, which didn’t help with the feelings of nausea – too much info I know! I just wanted to short circuit the journey and arrive at my Masi ji’s home.
Journeying through life can be like that… We can start out full of enthusiasm, excitement, passion, the best of intentions – ‘change the world’ levels of energy and vision but then there are unwelcome parts to the journey. On the way, ‘stuff’ inevitably happens, to distract, disrupt, and take us off course. What initially felt possible, suddenly feels impossible and overwhelming or it just seems to take sooooo long! As we all know, excitement and passion by themselves aren’t enough to carry us through the challenges, and the ups and downs on the journey ahead.
As followers of Jesus or those on a spiritual journey, Holy Week represents a roller-coaster of emotions and activity, contrast and contradiction. The week begins with the crowds enthusiastically cheering Jesus on. Disciples and close friends are full of excitement, energy and commitment. However, in no time at all… the dial turns and allegiances soon switch and many in the same crowd who shouted ‘Hosanna’ later cry ‘Crucify’! The air becomes toxic, filled with disillusion, deception, manipulation, accusations, unexpected encounters and journeys and then an unjust crucifixion.
Thankfully this isn’t the whole story or even the end of it… but now we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The reality is that we can’t get to the resurrection of Easter Sunday without the discomfort and dis-ease of Holy week with all its highs and lows.
As we travel together through this coming Holy Week why not reflect on… Who you are in this story? Where you are in the story? How you feel in the story? And whether you’re ready for your story to change… Afterall they do call the end of that week ‘Good’ Friday for a reason.
Have a ‘Good’ one… Sunday’s coming!!
