Preparing for the season

Next Sunday we will celebrate "Palm Sunday". For me, it's natural to think about the days leading up to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It's hard to grasp the range of emotions that are packed into those days. The gospel account of Palm Sunday reads like a crescendo of exuberant worship. The passover meal with his disciples has themes of tradition, love, friendship, betrayal and denial. His prayer time in the garden gives us a picture of isolation, agony and disappointment in his friends who were unable to stay awake with Him. A short time later angry shouts of "crucify Him" grow louder and louder. Perhaps the greatest swing in emotions is revealed in the women who watched Him die and then discovered He was no longer in the grave. The portrait of the Savior that emerges from these scenes is indescribable. As I often do, I like to find myself in the story. It is a way for me to examine my own relationship with my Savior.