Today was Palm Sunday!
Full confession: I did not go to get my palms and for the next full year, this will eat away at me like my Nana is nagging me from the great beyond. Every time something bad happens, I will see her face and her mouth pursed in disapproval, as she casually waves her ghost palm and tells me to sit up straight. Nana was always telling me to sit up straight; which led to me loving to slouch in all formal settings and when in the presence of senior citizens.
Anyway, back to this day! I have complicated feelings about Palm Sunday. I love getting my palm and enjoy spending 45 frustrating minutes trying to remember how to fold it into a cross, only to give up and shove the bent out of shape palm in a drawer where it stays for between 1 year and 43 years (I could probably just find an old one to shake at the imaginary voice of my dead Nana. ). I love when the kids sing Hosanna and I do enjoy the shouting of Hosanna in church (when we were in the church). But, everything that happens after today, well, it's not all palms and joyous shouting.
I mean, what a bummer to start the week being celebrated as an absolute hero and then end the week nailed to a cross to die.
And of course the resurrection happened; but one cannot simply glaze over the absolute roller coaster week. Hero-Hated-Dead-Alive: it's really a lot.
I think there is a lesson for us in the crazy roller coaster of Holy Week. That lesson is that people are really turncoats, aren't they? They show up for your parade and then they snag a front row seat at your crucifixion.
And I am probably one of the worst turncoats of all.
I often start the week or something new with a super positive outlook. Whenever I start a new project and someone asks me about it, I am all, "OMG IT IS SO AMAZING! I AM SO PSYCHED!!" and then when they check in a little while later, I might be like, "Yeah, it's fine." or "OMG IT IS SO AMAZING IN THE WORSE WAY."
I do enjoy finding the things wrong with everything. Like, I'll have a favorite pair of jeans and then one day, I'll catch a peek at myself in the mirror and decide the jeans need to be burned for their crime of looking weird.
We are all very changeable, aren't we?
My children, are perhaps both the most loyal and disloyal to each other at all times. Moments ago, they were all teamwork to clean up the kitchen and giving each other grace "Oh, let me reach that high shelf!" "Oh, no worries, I've got it!" and then, quite suddenly, the disloyalty sneaks in. "WHY AM I DOING THIS ALL BY MYSELF" "You are soooooo lazy" "STOP LOOKING AT ME."
(They have a thing about being looked at.)
It's so annoying. I find my own turncoat behavior to be annoying and a time suck. Why can't we all just be satisfied and cheering most of the time? Why must we all get caught up in the trap of being ready to nail everything and everyone to the cross? It takes a lot of time to burn a pair of jeans and even more time to put a fork away when you are screaming "YOU ARE A BABY" at your brother.
I am really asking, because I have no idea why we behave this way beyond the fact that we are human.
So, friends, I think the other lesson from Palm Sunday, besides the fact that we are all shady turncoats changeable, is that we can take our awareness of this human tendency to switch loyalty quickly, easily and without reason and use it to once in while not being so changeable. Or maybe to quickly return back to loyalty and help our sisters with the dishwasher instead of throwing gumdrops at them while shouting "I TOLD YOU I AM NOT HELPING YOU BECAUSE YOU GAVE ME A WEIRD LOOK."
(We are now out of gumdrops.)
Maybe, we can stop ourselves from switching from "Hosanna" to "Crucify him," just once in a while and save ourselves a lot of grief (and gumdrops).
Happy Palm Sunday and Happy Holy Week, friends. This might be the year I stop reenacting the crucification over a pair of jeans (probably not, but I am trying!).
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