Thanks for your timely words written several years ago; they are forever true about us as people! As I began to read, I thought about you, Nadia, and wondered how you're feeling this Holy Saturday? Since you didn't write again this week, I'm thinking you're still not feeling up to it and I am sorry for that and hope you feel better soon. Hold tight to people who love you and let go of all the things that you can. I'm sending love and prayers to and for you right now and in the coming days.
Thank you. I'm always glad for the assurance that God gives me grace for my past even when I don't. (Or won't?) I can't erase the memories, but I wish I could lessen how cruddy I feel when they come. But, then, I suppose that's what God is working on in me. Anyway, thanks again. And I continue to pray for your healing (physical and emotional) through this season of your life.
Looking forward to the joy of the resurrection tomorrow, I want to share a story about forgiveness that we read in our evening meditation earlier this week. It was a new story to both my husband and me, but one we will be thinking about forever! It’s an African legend that tells about the moment Judas died. Before passing from this world to the next, he walked down a dark road and saw a house all lit up. Approaching it, he nocked at the door. Jesus opened it, embraced Judas, and invited him in to dinner”.
Nadia, thank-you for sending this to us. It really made me stop and think about all of what’s offered in the Palm Sunday story. Wasn’t thinking all that this morning.
Continued to take care of yourself Nadia and give yourself the time you need. Don’t worry about us. We can wait.
I am a Jew in a progressive Christian church, following Jesus, a Jew, who became Christ. (There are several reasons for why and how I came to move 3000 miles to join my church.) This is one:
On this Palm Sunday at church I heard for the first time a sermon that embraced Jesus the Jew in the story of his inevitable end on earth. I wept with both sadness and joy. (One must remember that the "church" did not start until about 30 years after Jesus' death on the cross, in small house congregations, much like the baby version of the church to which I belong.) Just reading Krista Tippet's interview with Rabbi Shai Held and I am getting underneath the hows and whys I can sit as both Jew and Christian in our crazy world.
Grateful for you, for your insights, for sharing your cringe today with us. Also continuing to pray for you and your family through the ever difficult days of personal loss and mourning and grief.
Thanks for this, Nadia. I think the mirror of Palm Sunday is one of those intentionally distorting mirrors that can make us all look a little unflattering. Case and point, I had this conversation with a friend yesterday.
Friend: How does one preach Palm Sunday to a conservative congregation?? The way I see it, the triumphal entry is a protest. A referendum against the empire and the Emporer.
Me: Bro, you're asking the wrong person. My sermon for tomorrow is titled "The Gospel According to My Chemical Romance." Besides, I'm having the opposite problem - how to preach in a liberal congregation on No Kings weekend without slipping into self-righteous congratulations and hoarding grace for "us" so that "they" don't get their grubby fingerprints on it.
Friend: Just goes to show that preaching in any context right now is really hard!
It's hard because good preaching probably SHOULD make us sinful saints cringe a little.
Nadia I’m crying, I can so relate to your past, your regrets and failures, my past is similar. Very cringe! It is hard to not feel Shame and regret. I feel it now, as I just let down someone I deeply love by my fears and dishonesty. She is having a hard time forgiving (understandably) but I contrast it to what you just wrote, Jesus came for sinners. He forgives me with his perfect love!
Re: Cringe-- I wrote this to my wife a night or three ago:
My guess is that your feeling of ‘lack’ is related more to Church and Bible Study, than Faith.
You have been following Christ for nearly 70 years… Jesus is in your psyche, without church.
You have ‘done church’ for most of your life. We aren’t doing church, but we are doing grandsons.
I don’t know what I would be, without your nearly 70 years.
I came to Christ by studying, more than by church.
I grew in Christ by studying you, an act of faith on my part. I wanted the sort of woman I saw on television; they weren’t particularly interested. I made a good choice.
It didn’t take long for me to learn that churches don’t believe the same things, consequently, it was easy for me to choose not to do church. The more I chose to do, the more I learned how different I am.
Harder for me to do grandsons.
Jesus’ teachings were relatively brief, but consistent.
The Bible differs greatly in how and what is taught. This is why I have read theology more than Bible.
Jesus’ teachings are consistent with most of the teachings of other religions.
For me, you are visible Faith. You are the Good Samaritan. I’m one of the people who passed by. I demonstrate this nearly every time we go driving.
And still, who was it that Jesus said He would build his church on? That one guy...go figure. More on that later as I am trying to comment with a broken triquetra bone in my left wrist...
Thanks for your timely words written several years ago; they are forever true about us as people! As I began to read, I thought about you, Nadia, and wondered how you're feeling this Holy Saturday? Since you didn't write again this week, I'm thinking you're still not feeling up to it and I am sorry for that and hope you feel better soon. Hold tight to people who love you and let go of all the things that you can. I'm sending love and prayers to and for you right now and in the coming days.
Thank you, Evelyn for such a thoughtful response. I join you and pray for Nadia’s strength in overcoming what is currently being experienced 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you. I'm always glad for the assurance that God gives me grace for my past even when I don't. (Or won't?) I can't erase the memories, but I wish I could lessen how cruddy I feel when they come. But, then, I suppose that's what God is working on in me. Anyway, thanks again. And I continue to pray for your healing (physical and emotional) through this season of your life.
Hey Nadia. Thanks for posting this. My wife and I always get so much from what you write.
You are awesome.
100% agree!
Looking forward to the joy of the resurrection tomorrow, I want to share a story about forgiveness that we read in our evening meditation earlier this week. It was a new story to both my husband and me, but one we will be thinking about forever! It’s an African legend that tells about the moment Judas died. Before passing from this world to the next, he walked down a dark road and saw a house all lit up. Approaching it, he nocked at the door. Jesus opened it, embraced Judas, and invited him in to dinner”.
Learning how to reset the generator when it red lights. Now I can restart it if it goes red and my daughter isn’t here.
Nadia, thank-you for sending this to us. It really made me stop and think about all of what’s offered in the Palm Sunday story. Wasn’t thinking all that this morning.
Continued to take care of yourself Nadia and give yourself the time you need. Don’t worry about us. We can wait.
I am a Jew in a progressive Christian church, following Jesus, a Jew, who became Christ. (There are several reasons for why and how I came to move 3000 miles to join my church.) This is one:
On this Palm Sunday at church I heard for the first time a sermon that embraced Jesus the Jew in the story of his inevitable end on earth. I wept with both sadness and joy. (One must remember that the "church" did not start until about 30 years after Jesus' death on the cross, in small house congregations, much like the baby version of the church to which I belong.) Just reading Krista Tippet's interview with Rabbi Shai Held and I am getting underneath the hows and whys I can sit as both Jew and Christian in our crazy world.
Hi Sandra! I am Jewish and a Christian. I have gone from being a messianic Jew to just a Jesus follower. Where are you? I'm in Asheville NC.
Grateful for you, for your insights, for sharing your cringe today with us. Also continuing to pray for you and your family through the ever difficult days of personal loss and mourning and grief.
Yes, we are who we are. Sometimes saints sometimes sinners. Thank God for who God is and His/Her unconditional love for us!
when we know better we should do better...but we rarely do.
Thanks for this, Nadia. I think the mirror of Palm Sunday is one of those intentionally distorting mirrors that can make us all look a little unflattering. Case and point, I had this conversation with a friend yesterday.
Friend: How does one preach Palm Sunday to a conservative congregation?? The way I see it, the triumphal entry is a protest. A referendum against the empire and the Emporer.
Me: Bro, you're asking the wrong person. My sermon for tomorrow is titled "The Gospel According to My Chemical Romance." Besides, I'm having the opposite problem - how to preach in a liberal congregation on No Kings weekend without slipping into self-righteous congratulations and hoarding grace for "us" so that "they" don't get their grubby fingerprints on it.
Friend: Just goes to show that preaching in any context right now is really hard!
It's hard because good preaching probably SHOULD make us sinful saints cringe a little.
Love this! And I love you so much!
Thank you for the reminder that if people were perfect-than there would be no sense for Jesus to come and save us from ourselves.
Nadia I’m crying, I can so relate to your past, your regrets and failures, my past is similar. Very cringe! It is hard to not feel Shame and regret. I feel it now, as I just let down someone I deeply love by my fears and dishonesty. She is having a hard time forgiving (understandably) but I contrast it to what you just wrote, Jesus came for sinners. He forgives me with his perfect love!
I love you, grieve well! 🌹
Dear Sister I Have Never Met
Re: Cringe-- I wrote this to my wife a night or three ago:
My guess is that your feeling of ‘lack’ is related more to Church and Bible Study, than Faith.
You have been following Christ for nearly 70 years… Jesus is in your psyche, without church.
You have ‘done church’ for most of your life. We aren’t doing church, but we are doing grandsons.
I don’t know what I would be, without your nearly 70 years.
I came to Christ by studying, more than by church.
I grew in Christ by studying you, an act of faith on my part. I wanted the sort of woman I saw on television; they weren’t particularly interested. I made a good choice.
It didn’t take long for me to learn that churches don’t believe the same things, consequently, it was easy for me to choose not to do church. The more I chose to do, the more I learned how different I am.
Harder for me to do grandsons.
Jesus’ teachings were relatively brief, but consistent.
The Bible differs greatly in how and what is taught. This is why I have read theology more than Bible.
Jesus’ teachings are consistent with most of the teachings of other religions.
For me, you are visible Faith. You are the Good Samaritan. I’m one of the people who passed by. I demonstrate this nearly every time we go driving.
Woo, girl! Words I always need to hear. Always, always, always. Thank you for being the humbling light I need in my path & for keepin’ it real.♥️
And still, who was it that Jesus said He would build his church on? That one guy...go figure. More on that later as I am trying to comment with a broken triquetra bone in my left wrist...