Are you a fan of parades?  

I remember attending a few as a kid and sitting on the curb on Fifth Street in my hometown of Freeport.  The two that standout are the annual Halloween and Christmas parades both made all the more wonderful because of the tossing free candy to the crowd; I recall a parade celebrating the bicentennial and the very local parade recognizing Freeport's Sesquicentennial. Alas, little Freeport warranted an appearance from little-used nor liked Steelers mascot, "Steely McBeam."

Parades hit on all five senses and excel at the sights and sounds, the marching band, the shined and polished convertibles carrying the local dignitaries, folks pointing and in some cases happily identifying the person as she rides past.

Of course, Holy Week begins with a parade. Actually, two parades --- one with which Christians are most familiar, Jesus on a donkey, the crowds with palm branches, shouts of "Hosanna!' and a distinct change in address referencing Jesus as the Sovereign who comes in the name of God.  Uh-Oh --- now we've gone and done it...that regal reference gets the high priests on edge and puts the Romans on notice. 

The second parade is the arrival of Pontius Pilate into Jerusalem to preside and keep the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, during these days when the city will be streaming with pilgrims who have long lived as kept subjects of the Roman Empire...

We say that of course we would be in the peaceful crowd, beside the rabble and the ready-for-a-revolution people.  Fact is we also like our power, we like the comforts of being an empire and having the military might.  We like the control.  We're not so good about being vulnerable.

As we journey yet another Holy Week, let us check our vulnerability, be open to it, risk vulnerability and learn from it. Personal confession, I'm not really good at the whole vulnerability thing and plan to ponder it and even more lean into it, or, better yet, fall into it.   Here's to a Holy Week ---