O God, let us take in the moment of this day of crucifixion, not remembering it in the context of what came after it, but how it left Jesus’ disciples and followers in tragic sadness and heart-wrenched disillusionment.

Prompt us not to make this day too easy on ourselves, but to fully experience the dejection and despair that happens any time when we lose faith in justice in our world…when evil seems to win over goodness…when hope is betrayed by the harshness of cruelty…when faith is left dangling by a thread that we now see as frayed.

We need to feel the entirety of this day, for if we don’t, we rob ourselves of the depth of human emotion – of that emotion that in feeling the depths, has greater appreciation for the heights…that acknowledges that if we are somehow able to get through this day, that we may find a strength we did not know was possible tomorrow…that dares to trust in what is unimaginable, not so much because we believe it to be true, but because we don’t know how to keep going on if we don’t simply choose to trust in what we cannot yet see, or hear, or taste.

Our hearts are heavy with the burden of disbelief – about you, about our world, about humanity, about our own insufficiencies, and about things ever getting better. Teach not to ignore the doubt, for to do so would be a denial of realities we’d rather not own up to confronting. For we cannot fix what we don’t confess needs fixing, for fear that it may be too much for us to bear.

We need courageous souls to move forward in facing our fears, our doubts, our tears, our heartaches, our resignation, our apathy, our justifications, and our weariness of spirit. We can either be immobilized by the heaviness of life, or be willing to keep on walking despite our confidence that we will fall. But it is only in walking, in taking steps forward, in the midst of the emptiness of our fabricated assurances, that we may train our spiritual muscles to endure and to finish the journey that is set before us.

Inspire us, O God of our longings, to affirm what we can envision but don’t yet see as achievable, what we imagine but don’t yet see as possible, and what we value but don’t yet see as practical in trying to live by. For there is no healing balm for a sorrowing soul unless we have the heart to heal ourselves. There can be no reconciliation of our broken relationships unless we have the faith to trust in one another. And there can be no restoration of the love we’d rather not let go unless we are willing to once again suffer its rejections.

Let these lessons of the cross help us to see our way to accept your calling, no matter how treacherous the way in which it leads. For ours is to follow in Christ’s Way, which is your Way; and which by grace might one day be our Way. Blessings let us be.

– Rev. Bret S. Myers, 3/29/2021