Don't know much about . . .

For our Maundy Thursday service, we try to "re-create" the events of that evening. We begin with the Sacrament of Communion in an "upper room" ( a classroom on our CE wing's second floor). Then, as we sing a Taize song, we go "with" Jesus to the garden (and if the weather permits, we go into our outdoor garden); and after that, we "follow" Jesus to the sanctuary, for the reading of the trial portion of the story, and conclude with a reading of Psalm 22.

Folks who attend always comment on the meaning of the service, and mention how the 'movement' aids in their journey of faith. After tonight's service, someone told me that of all the services during Holy Week, including Easter with all its alleluias, this was the most meaningful. I found that to be an interesting statement, and realized after a bit of thought, that I felt the same way. Why is that?

Well, I don't know what it is like to be asked to bear the sins of the world and to do it all by myself, but I have sat around tables whereI found myself wondering about the motives of some of the other people sitting with me.

I don't know much about death (even though I've conducted a lot of funerals), butI do know a little bit about the struggle to be faithful to God's call to obedience, even when that call leads to pain, to suffering, to death.

I don't know anything (even thoughI trust in the promise) about resurrection, but I do know something about being willing to put my life in God's hands, even when I go into that darkest valley of all.

I don't know where it is all going to end, this journey I am on as I follow Jesus(though I do have some hints, and hopes). But Maundy Thursday reminds me that I am not alone on that journey, even when it looks like I am.

Maybe that is why the day means so much to folks, including me.

(c) 2005 Thom M. Shuman