The Holy Week: Palm Sunday!

Image re-published from this site

Before we continue with today's posting, we here at UCP would like to apologize for the abrupt end to the Divine Mother Leadership Series. However at the end of the Hindu festival of Nav Raatri we felt it best to leave off on the series since we decided we would cover the Catholic Divine Mother Leadership roles during the Catholic Holy Week instead. Also truth be told is we got pulled into a wormhole over on our Meady’s Musings blog and was in some parallel world since last week Wednesday night! Check that blog for more details of what really happened there!

But now on to our Grand Opening of the Catholic Holy Week here on UCP! And as this is UCP-Universal Collective Prayer we begin with yes…a prayer by Deacon Greg Kirk:

"Brother Jesus, as you enter Jerusalem, I lift my palm branch high. I recognize in you, a heart of love, one of peace. In you, I see who we are called to become. How fleeting is recognition and praise - in a few days, the ones who line the avenue with me will not stand with you, at the cross. I wonder if I will stand there? Can I dare to drink in the horror of the suffering - and somehow continue to believe in the mercy, compassion, love and goodness of the One God who is One? This is a question that can't be anwered in a few days or even a week. It is a question that will have to be lived out over the course of a lifetime. I only know this - in this day, in this moment, I trust in you, to show me who I am, who I can become - if I dare to trust, if I can find it within me to share and to love. Love, it never fades, never dies. Love is eternal. May this Love always live itself out in me, and may I always live myself out in love.
Love. Eternal Love. You in me. Me in you.
Amen"

Now to my understanding Palm Sunday marks the kick off of the Catholic Holy Week as it is the day that Jesus would have come into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey some say. Now I mean no disrespect here on the prayers when I say this but for me all the time long since I’ve been preparing this blog I’ve been wondering what of this donkey? You see this isn’t a blog of any particular religion it is UCP-Universal Collective Prayer and here on the prayers we want to look at things from a new perspective…break down old boundaries…so tonight I want to look at this Palm Sunday entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem through a different lens…through my lens…it is UCP in itself as I’ve often said on this blog I am Hindu centric in my views as I was born and raised Hindu and continue to be but UCP isn’t a Hindu blog. Here I explore my journey into Universal Collective Prayer and as I’ve said in the past, what I try to do is show others how I explore this…the commonalities, the differences and how they can come together or take out what can’t be reconciled and so forth. As I often say too…“This is my journey… this is my prayer!” But then I also say and offer to all my readers and onlookers… “Welcome! And please come join me in this dance I call Universal Collective Prayer!”

So now as a Hindu it must be quite normal for me to ask… “What of the donkey?” To me as a Hindu all through the stories I hear of Jesus the Christ’s life I wonder about the animals that surround him…to me these stories are filled with animals from cradle to crave! I mean there were camels, sheep, cows and donkeys at his birth, fishing expeditions, snakes (I think?) as he made his way in life and now here he was about to be crucified and he is riding in to it on a donkey. And as a Hindu looking on at this I can’t help wondering about the connection to the animals and how they feel about all of this. You see from my Hindu perspective I see it that all the animals are also with soul and part of the Universal spirit…so to me I keep thinking of how they would have felt to be surrounded by such an enlightened spirit that was embodied in the flesh of Jesus the Christ while he was on planet earth. However I’m sure Christians must see it differently and so it must be noted this is just my point of view being shared with…no malice…no spite…and certainly no disrespect but just plain enquiry from where I stand in the journey!

So for the intent of my story I shall proceed to name this donkey upon which Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I shall name him Sam…don’t ask me why but it is just what pops into my head as I keep seeing him before me…I don't perceive him as a talking donkey a la 'Donkey' from 'Shrek' but more that his spirit can communicate on a more subtle level with the spirit of Jesus...So as Sam walks into Jerusalem's gate with Jesus on his back he feels it...he knows this is the week it will all end...but at the same time his donkey hairs stand on end to know that is part of something bigger than him...something on a grand scale Universally!:)

In terms of Jesus' interaction with the donkey, Sam as they had travelled to Jerusalem I feel it would have been a very loving one...he would have been gently stroking him and stopping frequently on the journey for Sam to rest, drink and eat...he would have recalled too how another donkey took his mother, the Holy Virgin Mary to the manger for him to be born some more than thirty years before...and at that moment he would have perhaps recalled how he was about to go beyond his earthly maternal ties and make a sacrifice on a bigger Universal scale...although it would no doubt hurt his mother on the material plane very much!

And now as he sat upon Sam the donkey at the gates of Jerusalem he again touched the animal's mane lovingly and in that moment connecting with the animals spirit feeling both his fear and awe...He would have alighted from the donkey Sam and come before his face...caressing his snout in both his arms and explaining to him through divine connection that...Sam, the donkey should fear not for he would one day be liberated from the earthly plane and he would a greater spirit be for accompanying him on this journey!:)