:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

I love Easter season. There’s that part about Jesus dying and rising from the dead, and we’ll get there in a minute, but I wanted to talk about rabbits first. Easter is the one holiday where rabbits are simply every where. We have three mini rex rabbits in our house who have the run of the place. They do some damage, but not much more than a dog or a cat.

But man are they cute.

Every holiday and birthday leads to Julie and I looking for the cutest bunny cards to give each other. Easter presents legion opportunities for this.

While squishing my way through the drippy, endearing cards at the various stores around town (especially the always incredible Northshire Bookstore), I realized that Easter has been swamped by sentimental notions. Though I’ll be the first to rip that last cute bunny card out of your hard and bolt for the check out, flowers, bunnies, and warm, glowing Biblical scenes don’t quite capture what’s going on here.

On this Palm Sunday it’s wonderful to remember that Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, the Messiah who would save us, and that many were genuinely pumped up because he’d just raised a man from the dead. There’s new, abundant life, and these are things to celebrate. These are the things we should want.

These are the things symbolized by the flowers and rabbits.

Jesus’ path through palms and cheering crowds, however, didn’t immediately lead to the good life. Waiting on the other side that day were angry religious leaders whose violence knew no bounds. There were whips, fists, nails, hammers, and the unfeeling wood of a cross. Our King has come, but he has chosen the path of suffering, laying down himself as a model to us—asking us to lose all with him.

We all want to wave our palm branches and come out on the other side of the tomb, but in between the waving and the rising there is a tremendous cost, a dark valley, a place no one in his or her right mind would want to go. Self must go. Surrender to God is a must. As we receive the Good News that Jesus is Lord, that he has died and risen from the dead, and that we can partake by faith, we face the implications for our lives. Everything must be on the table.

I can’t escape this notion in Christianity of late. I have everything in Jesus and have stored my treasure with him, counting nothing of this world as gain—at least I’m trying. However, I get attached to stuff. I like certain routines, places, and possessions. It’s hard to think of myself as passing through this world as merely an ambassador. My personality trends toward settling down and, well, settling for how things are.

That’s why we need Palm Sunday: Jesus could have turned back from the valley of suffering, but he passed through these palms that may have appeared cheerful, but surely announced his death and suffering. May God give us grace to go where he calls us and to live lives worthy of the new life he gives.