Yesterday someone posted on Twitter: “In case you’ve lost track, today is THURSDAY.” I believed it, but as it turns out, yesterday was April Fool’s Day, and was not, in fact, Thursday.
Today is Thursday.
I think.
There have been intervals in my life when stepping outside of time has been a blessing. The lazy summers of my childhood, when one day flowed into the next. Days of pilgrimage and retreat, when the present moment became the only moment that mattered.
But right now, I’m disoriented. The normal framework of my days and weeks has disappeared, but there seems little hope of peacefully settling into the current moment. There’s too much work to be done, too much anxiety, too many unknowns. Through conversations I’ve had in recent days, I get the sense that I’m not alone in these feelings.
As Holy Week begins on Sunday, though, we have an opportunity to enter into a different kind of time for a while. This will be a Holy Week unlike any other we have experienced. I know that I’ll miss the traditions of the church more than I can say. But in many ways this year will be very like that first Holy Week two thousand years ago—frightening and strange and mysterious, with joy experienced more as tenuous hope than certainty.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus’s followers did not know how their story would end. They were afraid. They hid in their homes. Like us, I imagine that they were disoriented, unsure, frightened. Their normal routines had been upended, and they had no idea what the future would hold.
But they walked with Jesus anyway, and I hope you will join us in doing the same in this coming week. I hope we can enter together into God’s time, even as the world’s time remains unclear.
On Palm Sunday at 11:00 a.m., we’ll join with Royal Poinciana Chapel to remember Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and to look ahead to his path to the cross as we share a combined service that will be offered on both of our websites.
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we’ll gather online each day at 11:00 a.m. for a celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
On Thursday evening at 6:30, we’ll gather for an agape meal over Zoom. Prepare your own simple meal and join us as we gather together to remember the night of the Last Supper. At 7:30, we’ll livestream the Maundy Thursday liturgy and stripping of the altar.
On Friday at noon, we’ll remember Jesus’s crucifixion and death in a service of prayer, scripture readings, and preaching.
On Saturday at 11:00 a.m., we’ll livestream a simple liturgy for Holy Saturday.
And on Easter Day at 11:00 a.m., we’ll celebrate the Resurrection with as much joy as we can muster. The organ will play and bells will ring as we remember God’s victory even over the greatest darkness.
You can find links to all of these services easily on a new website dedicated to helping us through this time and getting us connected online: BBTSVirtual.org.
Margaret+