Holy Thursday

 

Today we push pause and prepare our hearts to come to Christ’s table tonight for Maundy Thursday.  

We breathe in God’s grace found in broken bread…and breathe out the hurts and harms that too often define and confine us.

We breathe in God’s sweet love tasted in juice…and breathe out all the “earning” and “deserving” and “proving” we often think we must do.

We breathe in a peace as we linger at the table…and breathe out our desire to control the guest list of who is invited or welcomed.

We breathe in Jesus’ prayer in the garden…and breathe out the bitter cups we sip from in life.

We breathe in Jesus’ non-violence as guards seize him…and breathe out the weapons of words and invisible scoreboards we carry around.

We breathe in the loneliness of Jesus in a prison cell, waiting…and breathe out the loneliness, fear, and frustration we carry in the cells of our hearts.

We breathe in Peter sidestepping knowing Jesus…and breathe out our own moments of standing silently on the sidelines.

We breathe in a sacred story that begins to crescendo that is big and bold enough to include a cross…and breathe out a script of life that define us narrowly.

Dear God, let this Holy Week enter our hearts with an unceasing grace and unconditional love that meets us in the bruises and brokenness of our lives.  Help us taste Your presence, sense Your healing, and be vulnerably honest that like the first disciples we still desert, deny, and betray.  Strengthen our faith, shore up our souls, and set our imaginations to hearing Your truth for us today.  Amen.