This is an important week for all Christians. It is Holy Week. It began yesterday with Palm Sunday and will end this Sunday with Easter. During this week Christians will remember and celebrate the events that are at the heart of the Christian message and beliefs. It is good to look back and remember as part of going forward with renewed faith and hope. We all need seasons of hope in our lives to sustain us on our journeys. May all of you who are Christians find renewed hope and faith in the celebrations that you will attend this week in your individual communities of faith.
While I was outside this weekend I was thinking about how much God is like the sun. On a day to day basis, we don't always think of God or the sun, especially if we are busy. Yet both provide for our needs. We just assume that both are there and always will be. Both sustain our lives. The great mystics often talked about the direct experience of God. I think the kind of experience the mystics are talking about is like looking at the sun. You can only stand it for a second. If you do not turn away, you will go blind. We can all be contemplative in the sense that we can maintain an attitude of awareness that allows us to feel the warmth of God much like we do the sun. Occasionally in our prayer and contemplation we might catch a glimpse of God much like we occasionally look at the sun. When this happens we must, like Moses on Mount Sinai, turn our backs while God passes by.
There was pandemonium at my house on Saturday. Early in the morning workers arrived to install carpet in much of my house. Much of the day I was isolated with the rest of my family while the old carpet was pulled up and the new carpet installed. I did learn one thing from a test of strength that I failed. At age fifty six I am not as strong as I used to be. I learned this when I tried to lift a piano. Seeing my pathetic display of strength, the young guys who were installing the carpet picked up the piano and moved it as though it were no big deal. It was another humbling experience for me that reminded me that I am not getting any younger. The good news is that I feel like I am in a new house. My wife took a bold step and went from white walls to yellow and red walls. The fresh paint, along with the new carpet and furniture, has transformed our living space. I must commend my wife, and Chloe's parents, for all of this.
Speaking of Chloe, if she were a little more aware, she would be mad at me. Yesterday I went downtown to help my wife move into her new office. When we were finished we walked a couple a blocks to a restaurant across from a theater. I was wondering why there were so many children downtown. Then I saw the marquee. The "Doodlebops" were in town and performing in Louisville. If you are a grandparent or parent with young children, you know who the "Doodlebops" are. They are a kind of rock band for small children and have a show on the Disney channel. Chloe loves them and we actually have one of their DVD's. However, I am not quite ready to take Chloe to a rock concert.
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