Father,
Palms mainly mean “Welcome” for many people:
welcome the Messiah
welcome the Suffering Servant
welcome the Miracle Worker
welcome the Healer of our sicknesses.
Waving is easy; it’s festive and entertainment is what we are used to.But could those palms also mean:
waving we are to the system that induces suffering
waving we are to our own indifference
waving we are to our lack of discernment
waving we are to the noise we are used to and kills our call to silence.
waving we are to the divisions over petty matters
waving we are to all our struggle for self-preservation, self-perpetuation, or self-exaltation.Father,
what if you help me change my props,
from the palms to the foal of an ass
me riding the creature,
entering my own Jerusalem, heart throbbing
as i say “Yes” to my own fears – of my own wounds, death, becoming insignificant, losing all securities and powers, pulverized into dust as a mortal being?What if…
instead of the palms
i waved the tail of the donkey
as a way of claiming the need
to enter my own human vulnerability
because saying yes to You in silence and service
entails the nakedness of Him
whose last piece of cloth
was even raffled.What if Father?
——–
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