THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, March 28, 2021, Palm Sunday, Gather and Devotion on Zoom. If you have any questions, or are interested in a conversation, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
_____
Dear Palm Sunday Pilgrims,
Welcome, O season of spring!
As we welcome spring, we also welcome our Holy Week in the coming week. They always come together as a pair: spring and Holy Week. While we aren’t necessarily sure if Jesus was born in winter or spring (spring), we do have a kind of ready guide for knowing it was sometime, during Passover, which is celebrated and honored in the spring, when Jesus went to his death. Thankfully, spring is also a celebratory time of new life. And we celebrate the gift of grace that saves us, and the new life that embraces all of us in the body of Christ. And that new life in Christ sweeps us off our feet, and carries with us into a love affair that knows no boundaries or limits or ends.
But that is to get ahead of myself. I just needed to reminds us of this new life and love because of the atrocities that we witness daily: the rise of mass killings by people with too easy access to guns; voting laws in Georgia that are blatantly racist; the increasing surge of COVID infections in Europe and soon, here; and the ongoing civil wars in Asia, the African continent, and the Middle East that knows no end. Perspective matters. Context matters.
Love wins.
Holy Week begins with a lot of noise and new sights, because it begins with a celebratory parade. As a child, Palm Sunday was a great Sunday because we children were given palm fronds that we then turned into swords, playfully swatting after each other, hitting one another on the shoulder or on the head. And of course, as a young chorister in the children’s choir, there was the joy of parading down the center aisle of Morrow Memorial Methodist Church where I was raised as a child in Maplewood, NJ. In encyclopedia.com, the definition or description of a parade is as follows: “Since antiquity, processions, pageants, and parades have been one important way of making communal bonds visible, and children have always played a significant though changing role in these celebrations, in which communities say who they are and where they are going.” This is a very apt description of the parade for Palm Sunday. During Palm Sunday, the day in which we recognize that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, we, as a Church (universal) act as a community, showing off our communal bonds, with children having great fun in celebrating this storied-heir of King David. Both in the first community to celebrate Jesus as he rode into town, as well as the Church today, we are telling the world around us who we are, and where we are going. And where is it we are going? At first blush, we are going to celebrate this Messiah-like figure. And yet, the reality is (knowing how quick crowds can turn and love stories go awry), we are going to Golgotha. Palm Sunday is part of our holy pilgrimage, the way of the cross. Join us this week as we share stories of our life in parades! Bring a branch of some kind to our Zoom gathering on Sunday. And let us welcome Holy Week with a shout of "Hosanna!"
** Remember: our Lenten service project is providing parts of a breakfast program for Human Solution’s Gresham Emergency Women’s Shelter. Items are to be dropped off at Kathy’s house on April 3, and she will deliver the items on April 4.
· Cold cereals & granola
· Instant oatmeal
· Jams and peanut butter
· Granola bars
· Dried fruits and nuts
· Ground coffee & creamer
_____
Events!
March 28, 4 pm. Palm Sunday, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 1, Maundy Thursday, 7 pm. Bring a cup of juice or wine, and bread.
April 4, EASTER! 8:30 am! Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 11, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 18, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 25, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
____
Prayers of Celebration and Concern
· Thanksgiving that our prayers are helping Brett's friend, Tom Donegan, who has esophageal cancer.
· Thanksgiving that our prayers are helping Richard Rodriguez.
· The COVID vaccine to be available to all parts of the world.
· The family of Jim Ruggles who died last Monday.
· Larry Kelly's daughter-in-law Maria who has a recurrence of thyroid cancer
· The family of Ethan, a 12 year old who committed suicide this past week.
· The family of Matthew, a 16 year old who suffers from chronic heart issues.
· People of Asian descent who are victims of hate crimes that are more real than we want them to be.
· Craig Stein who lost his job at Eagle Creek Presbyterian Church.
· This country to become the paradigm for decency that we seek.
· People in Yemen caught in a civil war for the past six years and with COVID-19 spreading, the humanitarian crisis worsens.
· Thanksgiving that Adrianne, Scott, and Edie have settled in their new home in North Carolina.
· Thanksgiving for all the help Brett is getting in his job search.
· Celebrations for hand-written notes that can make a huge difference in a person's life.
· Happy Spring!
_____
Poem
Palm Sunday, by Malcolm Guite
Now to the gate of my Jerusalem,
The seething holy city of my heart,
The savior comes. But will I welcome him?
Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;
They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing,
And think the battle won. Too soon they’ll find
The challenge, the reversal he is bringing
Changes their tune. I know what lies behind
The surface flourish that so quickly fades;
Self-interest, and fearful guardedness,
The hardness of the heart, its barricades,
And at the core, the dreadful emptiness
Of a perverted temple. Jesus come
Break my resistance and make me your home.
____
Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.