Wednesday of Holy Week (Lent - Day 37)

The Lord GOD opened my ear;
I did not refuse,
did not turn away.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who tore out my beard;
My face I did not hide
from insults and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
Therefore I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Isaiah 50:5-7

Today is Wednesday of Holy Week. That means tomorrow begins the Triduum - the one service that spans three days.

I love the Triduum. It is, by far, my most favorite time of the year. Beginning Holy Thursday, it continues through Good Friday and ends with the celebration at the Easter Vigil Saturday night. It reminds me of a quote I heard last summer and have come to love: When we were at our worst, God was at His best.

As a disciple of Jesus, being at the foot of the cross is where I most long to be. Yet it is also the place from which I most strongly desire to run. It is not comfortable, and stirs up within me that which I wish would "just go away". The cross reminds me that that's not the way it works with God's grace and healing, and the season of Lent helps me prepare for this again, and again. Year after year.

It is hard to believe that Holy Week is almost finished and Easter is around the corner. Today, many dedicated and hard-working souls came to clean the church and help get it ready for the Easter celebration. The work was indeed hard - places cleaned before lunch were re-cleaned after because it was only the first layer of grime that was taken off. But the result is amazing!

I am reminded of all these things in the above passage from today's Old Testament reading.  Discipleship-living is not easy. There are things in my life that I'm "okay" with being "just as they are" yet unless they are attended to, acquire layer after layer of dirt and grime, when they are meant to be a source of wonder, pointing to God's amazing Grace and gift of Life! 

And so today, facing tomorrow, am given hope and courage; and the reminder to keep listening to God's leading so that I too might be able to face the darkness around and even within me without fear. Knowing that God is my help and my strength.