March 14, 2008 A Dilemma

Dear St. James’ Family,

My husband, Chris, is facing a dilemma.

A March Madness dilemma.

Chris is a teacher and therefore will be on Spring Break next week. After three years of marriage, he has learned that I am definitely not on Spring Break during the week before Easter, and that it’s best to seek his own forms of entertainment during Holy Week, because I’m not exactly a bundle of fun.

Well, this year, the problem is solved.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday coincide with the beginning of March Madness—the NCAA basketball tournament kicks into gear on Thursday of next week.

Problem solved, huh? Basketball, day and night, for four straight days. Instant entertainment!

So, Chris was planning a trip to Richmond to watch basketball with his friends.

And then it hit him.

It’s March Madness, or Maundy Thursday.

He has to make a choice.

Now, let me tell you that Chris proposed to me on Good Friday five years ago.

Good Friday. We got engaged on Good Friday. In a restaurant that prides itself on having “world famous hot dogs,” but that’s a different story.

Good Friday is a very odd day on which to ask someone to marry you, but Chris, like many people, had never attended Holy Week services. He didn’t think that Good Friday was all that different from any other day. To him, we were already in Easter mode, and Easter is a time to celebrate, right?

The next year, Chris came to Maundy Thursday services with me. Then he came to Good Friday services. It was like scales fell from his eyes. He was shocked, and moved, and broken-hearted by what he saw, and experienced, and felt.

Strange as it sounds, every year, Chris asks when the sad services are—the one when we strip the altar bare under a veil of darkness. The one when we carry the big cross into church, and are invited to write down a sin that is separating us from God, only to have those (unseen) pieces of paper burned at the Easter Vigil.

Holy Week services are moving. The most moving of the year. I have never, ever met a person who came to church during Holy Week, and didn’t feel like his eyes had been opened to the beautiful sadness of Jesus’ final days. I have never met a person who has been to Holy Week services and said that Easter was the same. Easter is not the same when you’ve walked with Jesus through his final meal, and his final hour.

I know that next week is Spring Break, and the beginning of March Madness. Many of you may not be in Leesburg for Holy Week. But wherever you are, look for a church that offers Holy Week services. Worshipping on Thursday and Friday will change the way that you experience Easter Sunday.

And if you are in town, please join us on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Service times and descriptions can be found here.

And in case you’re wondering, Chris decided to go to church in Richmond on Thursday night and Friday at noon. He’ll miss a few games. . . but it’s worth it.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Mary