A HOLY WEEK: Day Two

Today I think about how busy this week is.

Worship experiences to create. TV spots to write. Supplies to acquire. Events to execute. Responsibilities to manage. Expectations to satisfy.

So much to do.

Holy Week is so task oriented for me. This morning I created in my PDA a list of “must-do”s (which are very different from “to do”s, by the way, which are more easily delayed, rationalized, or rescheduled). Among the week’s “must do”s were time-, energy-, and imagination consuming activities for every day between now and Easter Sunday – outcomes whose failure to materialize would consequentially affect my and/or others’ experience of Holy Week.

Every now and then I get so full of myself as to believe that something I do – perhaps one thing I do – makes a difference. But that’s one thing per week (or month!). My goodness, this week’s “must do”s are a collection of better get it dones.

Then there’s the matter of the week itself. The people I work with put so much attention on this week (damned Christians!). If there’s a week in the year when the inspectors will be out in force and in the pews offering unsolicited reviews, this is it.

So much to do. So many things to accomplish. I measure the rise and fall of this week’s fortunes on the basis of what I do, how soon I do it, and whether those who partner with me in the week’s ministries similarly follow through on their commitments.

Most who read The Express aren’t religious professionals (you may pause now to count your blessings), but if for you Holy Week is an important spiritual journey, if you value worship on or in the special days leading to Easter Sunday, or if you’re just one of those infamous pew sitters who attend more than participate in the life of your congregation, chances are you have a lot of items on your calendar this week, too. Please know I feel your pain and share your stress.

And please also know that Jesus yet again gazes at us in amazement, wondering how you and I can be so caught up in what we “must do,” when our focus and passion this week, of all weeks, should be on what he must do.

Whatever else you’re doing right now, STOP! Raise your hand. Open your heart. And for the next thirty seconds – time for which you will receive neither reward nor recognition – keep your eyes on Jesus.

Whether you want to, need to, or have to, just do it. Now.


Pray with me:
God, keep me silent long enough to pay attention to the one who is about to do for me what I could never do for myself or anyone else, the one in whose name I now pray, Amen.