Reflections on Palm Sunday

By -
(Guest Blogger Tom shares his reflections on Palm Sunday with words and pictures--he has a great way with both. th2hombre.com) 

I am such a knuckle-dragging Christian.  I revere Easter, and know that as night precedes the dawn, Palm Sunday precedes Easter by exactly one week.   But somehow or other this morning, I went to church clueless that today is Palm Sunday.  The day the Jesus entered Jerusalem astride a donkey, proceeding over branches and palm leaves, fulfilling the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. This is the beginning of Holy Week, or Semana Santa in Spanish.   

This morning's realization that this is Palm Sunday overtook me like a
blessed breakthrough in the clouds,
a fresh and gathering tailwind,
a bouquet of sweet chaparral along a rough hilly trail.
I've had a glow inside me ever since.  

And in the bargain, I've been chrono-transported to a Palm Sunday I relished four years back on a Cirrus getaway trip we took to Alamos, in mainland Mexico.  My wife and daughter were sleeping in, and while they reposed, I struck out on my own meandering the byways of the small Spanish colonial pueblo, a town from Mexico's silver mining past. You may well recall seeing these images before, but they are ever appropriate to this day.

This is hilly country, and from a bluff along the edge of town, you can look down on the community, including its lovely stone iglesia, or church, adjoining the zocalo, or central square.  I wish to call your attention to a small door, at ground level, near the far lefthand edge of the church, below another overhead door higher up on the wall, and all of this to the left of the lower white dome.  To the right, in front of the bell tower are the trees of the zocalo.  




Zocalos are important parts of the cultural life of these small Mexican pueblos—areas of congregation and socializing.  It's where young teens ambulate, circulating around the square, boys and girls walking in opposite directions to check each other out, and older folks congregate to talk, parents allow young children to safely run and play.  

This picture is early morning, and as I strode from our splendid lodging toward the zocalo, I came to the side door, referred to above, and here was a young child in her vestments, dancing to her own internal song, joyously savoring another gorgeous Spring morning.  I managed to take her photo just as she realized she was not alone.

Centuries' old bells waiting to call the faithful to the morning's special service. And the padre, intoning "La palabra de Dios." Crowds gathering on the raised court surrounding the church, palm fronds held high, about to initiate the processional into the sanctuary.


And during all this time, two young lads—and all—hand crafting crosses out of palm fronds. Spiderman shirt, "See, if you twist and tie it like this, you get this really cool cross..."



A smile to warm the hearts of the most jaded or cynical.  


A zocalo replete with a wonderful gazebo.












By now, you must know how gaga I am over color.Tropical Mexico is vibrant with nature's color, and that of the people.  Their joy of life, and the colors of their homes, their clothing, their music, their food.  


Palms and color, and, of course, the cross. The symbol of Rome's gruesome power, and Jesus' horrific death, turned symbol of eternal life.




And days come to an end, replaced by an afterglow leading to stars and moonlight.  If you're one of my pilot friends, this is just a few hours south of the border.  If you are not, well, it's a bit more of a travel odyssey, but well worth the visit. I wish you all the best throughout this Holy Week. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cappadocia

By -
Image
Amy and I have traveled to Turkey twice before, but this is our first time leading a group into Cappadocia.  What an amazing way to start our 14 day pilgrimage on the footsteps of Paul. It feels like we're in a different world. The landscape is more like the moon or a scene in Star Wars.  Hittites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks all passed through and conquered. First century believers returned here after Pentecost and Peter wrote his first letter to encourage them in their persecution and suffering. In the fourth century, Simon devoted 42 years of his life in isolation on top of a fairy castle, seeking time alone with God. People brought him food and were drawn to his way of life and stayed. The soft tufa volcanic stone allowed for monks and whole communities to create monasteries and homes hidden inside whole mountains.  We visited a handful of those 365 churches (one for every day of the year) that once existed in the Goreme and Zelve valleys.  It strikes
Read more

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-seven and Thirty-eight: We made it!

By -
Image
A Salceda to Santiago de Compostela We decided to walk 22km to the outskirts of Santiago and walk the last few kilometers in the morning. Neither of us could sleep, so we got up, packed our mochilas for the last time and walked to the old city at 5am. It was dark and rather than being joined by other pilgrims, we passed a few late night partiers and a woman walking her dog. It's not the entrance into Santiago we pictured, but we were all alone in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral. It was June 17 — thirty-eight days and 780 kilometers since we started May 11, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We were two of the first ten pilgrims in line for our compostelas , which meant we got tickets for a free lunch at the historic parador. Peter from Australia showed up and introduced us to Michael and Linda from Washington DC, who also got the lucky tickets. Peter also knew Ted and Darlene from Winnipeg, and gave them contact, since my phone died and we cou
Read more

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-four to Thirty-six

By -
Image
Gonzar to Melide to A Salceda Today we completed two 30km days in a row and we are within 25km of Santiago. We've walked over 700km from Saint Jean Pied de Port, France, for more than a month.  And after two days of rain, the sun came out and the sky was clear and blue.  We stopped in Melide for the night where we found an amazing vegetarian-vegan restaurant Casa Alongo run by Concha. She was happy to speak English and share her passion for fresh, local food. After a Camino of meat and typical pilgrim meals, it was a great find. She served us grilled vegetables with avocado aioli and  tostada de pulpo-- Galician bread toast with local cheese and octopus. . One bar along the road has bottled their own La Peregrina lager and invites pilgrims to write something on the bottle and decorate the patio. We walked our second to last day with friends we met a week ago--John, Norbert and Agnes. We talked about our families and what it's like to make friends on the Camino.  Everyone is a
Read more