Wavin' those Palms

Here's the March edition of the Chaplain's Corner

by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain (who is enjoying learning to ski)

Palm Sunday and the Easter Season are all about joy. Although, Palm Sunday is the prelude to Good Friday, the blackest day in human history, it is also a step toward Easter Sunday, the happiest day in human history. On Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem joyously welcomed Jesus into their city with singing and waving palm branches. It is a day of joy, as we reflect on Christ’s entry into our lives and the liberation, love, and joy He brings to us all.

Wherever we find love, there we find Jesus. And wherever, whenever, we find Jesus, we welcome Him as joyously as those ancient Jews who threw palm branches in front of Him, singing songs. Anywhere. It doesn’t have to be in a church. Wherever we are touched by love, or where we touch others by love, we are in a holy place; we are on sacred ground; we are in a temple. And wherever that is, we welcome Jesus with joy.

I would like to share a short story with you about a Palm Sunday experience I recently had. Just last Friday I went to a jazz club to hear a blues musician. I was enjoying his smooth blues immensely. Then something miraculous happened. He sang a song about going down to the water to wash away his burden, wash away his sin. I was now in a church. The song went on, “Saw my shadow in the water looking back at me. He said come on in the water’s fine, you know the truth will set you free.” I was filled with the joy of his music and the spirituality of his lyrics. In another song he sang, “The days have come and gone, only love will live on.” The song went on, “In this life I have sown seeds of love—how they have grown.” This from a blues musician in a nightclub. We brought him out for an encore. And his last song went like this, “There is a light shining in me and the same light is in you, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” His music brought a triumphal entrance of Jesus into the club, and I wished I had a palm branch to throw onto the stage. I left the club that night with the feeling that I had had a profound spiritual experience in Lester’s music and his spiritual soul. Talk about soul music!

That is the meaning of Palm Sunday. That is the Joy of Easter. The risen and glorified Jesus Christ is with us everywhere. Let us welcome His coming into our lives with the joy He always brings.