For Holy Week and Paska

Again, it’s the dawn of Holy Week. Outside the snow is gone and hope for a resurgence of green grows each day.   Daffodil spikes poke through the black soil.    

In Konotop, resurgence is real and happening now.  Ah, spring!

I will travel to Chernigov next week.  I have been invited to share in the training of new Peace Corps Volunteers.  I want to present a collection of tips for community integration and networking.   It’s so important to take time to understand Ukrainian ways and build new relationships.  

As another Peace Corp Volunteer said to me recently, “Our service is all about relationships first and then projects follow.”  I’ve learned a lot and I’m glad to have the chance to pass it on.

 

I’ll stay in Chernigov and share Paska (Easter) with Luda and my host family.  It’s my third Paska in Ukraine.  What an amazing story I have been blessed with living these past two years.

Yesterday as I was enjoying a flood of memories, a free verse came to mind.  I sat down and with very little tinkering, these words flowed onto the screen:

the kingdom of god is now 

so he rode into town

the people loved him 

but crowds are fickle

or was it revenge

then and now, money changers remember

they play the future

a kingdom of god is no good when you have plans to profit the whole world  

so with the crowds blessing, they killed him 

just like they always do to those too good for now

just like a common thief for stealing away the right to hate and do daily injustice

then and now, death restores normalcy 

or so it seems

but for those with eyes and ears and hearts and hands that work, the kingdom of god is now

so we ride into town...

Yesterday, I shared the verse with a few friends.  One said she felt inspired and another said she might include it in Easter Sunday worship. She’s a minister.  Amazing, how email sends thoughts around the world.

And now I share the verse here on my blog.  While the context is Jesus and Holy Week, I think the theme is universal.  All religions struggle with overcoming hatred and fear and daily injustice.   Like daffodils, we poke our heads through the dark soil in hope. 

Happy Paska!