Imagination and Holy Week.

Dear Friends,

Imagination is a very important part of who we are.  It is a characteristically human function, and one that too many of us feel compelled to jettison when we’ve crossed the line from childhood to adulthood (make that, the imaginary line).

Using our imagination can add a meaningful dimension to our spiritual life.  Prayer of the imagination, part of our faith tradition, is a life-giving way to connect with God.  We use guided meditations to do that in worship, and many of you respond to that.

And no wonder.  Ours is a storytelling species, and being able not only to hear or read a story, but also to enter into it through the imagination, helps us to engage it on a deeper level than using our intellect alone.

Enter Holy Week, the week that leads us to Easter Sunday.  In church, this week is all about the story, the story of the events leading up to Jesus’ last supper, arrest, trial and crucifixion. Our Holy Week worship events invite you to enter into the story.

We begin the Sunday before Easter in morning worship, recalling Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to the waving of palms branches and shouts of hosanna.  And then we turn to the darker events that follow.  For this year’s Passion Play, improvisational jazz music will set the tone as ten of your fellow congregants, appearing as characters who were there as the biblical events took place, tell the story.  Our sharing of communion that morning will be part of the story as well.

Maundy Thursday features an evening potluck supper followed by our traditional Tenebrae service of shadows and readings.  The diaconate and chancel choir make that experience a memorable one, as the light in the sanctuary is gradually extinguished.

Good Friday comes with an afternoon opportunity for individual prayer in the chapel.  And this year we will gather for a Good Friday evening worship.  This observance of Good Friday will be experiential like our Ash Wednesday service, and will draw on our Lenten theme of living with contradiction.  The cross we made and have added to during Lent will add layers of meaning as we encounter the story in yet another way.

To take you the rest of the way to Easter, the deacons will host a contemplative Holy Saturday evening vigil in the sanctuary for individual prayer and reflection.

You’ll find times and details for all of these events listed in this Beacon.

Come to any, come to all, but do try to come to at least one of these worship opportunities during Holy Week.  The greatest story of our faith is here waiting for you, and your imagination.  It will make the joy of Easter all the sweeter, and the mystery of resurrection all the more meaningful.