Here we are –
Holy Week
We’ve been here before
Year after year
But this year
Is like no other before
We’re in our homes
Wondering when we’ll return to any sense of normal
Losing patience and running ragged
We’re in hospitals weary and weak
Afraid of what is to come
Afraid of what we do not know
We’re in grocery stores
Keeping to ourselves
Wearing our masks and praying we’re safe
We’re teaching our children
Using technology to connect friends and family
We’re in our homes working, learning, playing, and resting
We’re in our homes fearful and uncertain
Holy Week is here to meet us
Wherever we are
However we feel
Whether we’re alone
Or longing for a moment of rest
Whether we believe or doubt
Whether we lament or sing songs of joy
Holy Week is here
Ready to embrace us
Not much different from the first Easter –
We wonder if our world will ever be the same
If we’ll ever be the same
This week, this Holy Week
We hear the stories we’ve always heard
Washing feet and last meals
Love and betrayal
Death on a cross, violence
Tears and silence.
And then we wait
And wrestle
Offer cries and broken hallelujahs
Until
We turn to the rising sun
The empty tomb
The light at the end
The hope of what is to come
Amen
Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is an ordained ELCA pastor, mother of two, and spouse of an ELCA pastor. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, MO. You can read more at her website or follow her work on Facebook.