Life goes on

It's sunny but cold this morning. Outside my window tiny leaves unfurl from one of the season's early blooming (Is that what non-flowering trees do?) trees. I wonder: What kind is it?

I refilled the bird feeder which a large flock of crows emptied yesterday. A squirrel gorged on spilt remains keeping the usual crowd away.

Tomorrow Holy Weeks begins. We will enter the drama of the Passion of the Christ. During Lent I've tried to meditate on some aspect of our Savior's last week of life every day. Today I'm struck by Jesus' response to the arresting party that came to apprehend him at Gethsemane. Dignity, commitment to his mission, and respect even for his enemies. He never lost his temper. He addressed Judas as 'friend'. He rationally asked the soldiers, who had seen him day after day in the Temple: "Why come under cover of dark, armed and hostile?" He submitted willingly as they led him away.

While Christians enter the holiest week of the liturgical year, birds migrate, squirrels feast on unexpected bounty, and trees send forth their leaves. The world goes on just as always.

I hope and pray that I won't. I hope and pray that Christians everywhere will be changed by the love of God demonstrated by the self-sacrificing Christ.