The final week of Lent - already!  Time has surely flown by.  And so today we are offered three very lovely passages to ponder

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Deuteronomy 16:1-8
Philippians 2:1-11

I challenge you to read the verses from Psalm 118 without bursting into song - there will be a hymn, a chorus, a worship song that is familiar to you based on some of these words.  It is immediately clear why we are given this so close to Palm Sunday.

The Deuteronomy is a simply reminder of the institution of both Passover and Pentecost; a timely reminder of the deeply interwoven nature of Christianity with its Jewish origins.

And Philippians 2 - well that's precious as it was used at my Induction service at the Gathering Place.

Three lovely passages, each positive in tone, each stirring memories of places and people, laughter and frowns, aspirations and achievements, failures and successes.  Well they do for me.

A little pause then, on our journey to Calvary, a space to re-member, to put back together, if only in our minds, times and places that have been important in our own journey of faith.  I wonder what dates (literal or festival linked) feature in your personal calendar?  And why?  I wonder which verses of scripture inform your living?  And how?  I wonder how you feel as we pause, on the verge of Holy Week, with all it entails?  And what that will mean in practice?

Festal God

Who ordained the practices of the ancients

To observe the Passover

The feast of weeks

Who chose to transform their significance

In your own sacrifice

Your own breathing of new life

For all nations - and all creation

As I pause

As I recall my own calendar of feasts

My own anniversaries of grief

My own moments of new understanding

Fill me afresh with wonder

At who you are...