Dear St. Luke’s,

We are on the cusp of Holy Week. This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday and it is customary for members of the congregation to read the Passion in dramatic format, where each person takes on a different role. In a very real and immediate way, St. Luke’s will be living out the Gospel as a way of allowing it to transform us, and it is a small example of what we do year after year. The liturgical year, beginning with Advent and going all the way through the obscure “Season after Pentecost”, is ever so slowly living out the story of our salvation. This coming week is the most tragic, exciting, and inspiring part of this story. Easter is great and all, but Easter feels more like Easter if you’ve been through the sorrow of Maundy Thursday, the bareness of Good Friday, and the first joyful moments of the resurrection that is the Easter Vigil. I hope that you not only join us for all of these services but that you will invite your neighbors because the story is about to get good.

Experiencing Easter after experiencing Maundy Thursday reminds me of this cheeseburger I had a long time ago. I think I may have told you about it. It may have been the best meal I have ever eaten and it cannot be replicated. It was purchased in a store that resembled a gas station, but without the gas pumps, and it was the only building within sight on a lonely dirt road. It is not a hidden gem waiting to be found. It was dirty, no AC, and the person behind the counter was smoking. What made the meal exceptional was my hunger.

It takes about two weeks to get your “trail legs” on the Appalachian Trail. At the two-week mark you feel like you can hike all day, your metabolism goes into overdrive, and you eat constantly. It’s too bad that you have to carry everything you eat, and what is efficient to carry generally does not taste good. After those weeks of surviving off of ramen, peanut butter, energy bars, and maybe some beef jerky, the lonely dirt road, and store, was a welcome sight. We ate ourselves silly! If I found this place while I was driving, I am sure the food would have been unremarkable at best. It was the journey there that changed the meaning and the taste behind that greasy oasis.

Don’t let Easter find you already comfortable and full. Easter brings hope to those who are in need of hope, and the rich often go away empty, not realizing what they have missed. It doesn’t mean this is a chore. Any good journey has mountains to climb, and if you are not aware, a mountain can be a pain to climb, but the climb is always worth getting your trail legs.

Blessings,

Nick