Tuesday Prayer: A Long (Holy) Week Prayer

God,

Only you know,

how long Holy Week is–

Only you were human enough

to do all the emotions, 

to go from raising Lazarus…

to carry the scent of your perfumed feet

to the washing of your own disciples,

after you spent precious time having one Last Supper

one last fellowship

one last night of jokes and comaderie and silliness,

mixed in with the holy and weighty words

(is this where I slip in that one of the words for holy in Hebrew means weighty?) 

of institution, only you 

Jesus

Could handle both that night.

And then you took a break to pray.

On the hill of the garden of Gethsemane 

that perched over Jerusalem, 

with Olive trees that still stand there today

You looked at the gates 

and your brain said yes and your heart screamed no

or vice versa

and you must have,

seen the soldiers come.

Peace, you counseled

Peace–you kept, as the betrayal came as it must,

as the disciples fled, as the questions came

you kept your cool and answered questions with questions

or not at all

You played the ping pong ball 

around the powers that be…all around Jerusalem

only to land 

carrying this scandelous

heinous

ugly 

heavy

cursed

cross

up the hill 

to your own death.

Jesus, 

Only you are human enough 

to carry the full emotions of Holy Week.

And only you are divine enough to deal with them.

But I’m thankful whenever I remember that 

feeling overwhelmed is a part of it.

Help us, this Holy Week, walk with you

as we are able.

To not feel ashamed when we are overwhelmed. 

Thank you for this Holy Week God.

Amen.

Image: https://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/women-of-holy-week

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Katy Stenta is a solo pastor at a tiny Presbyterian church that is bigger on the inside in Albany, NY since 2010 and blogs prayers & Narrative Lectionary at http://www.katyandtheword.com and is pursuing her Doctorate in Creative Writing in Public Theology at Pittsburgh Seminary. When she is not dreaming up projects and ideas, some of which creep into the church, she plays with her three boys-boys or goes and visits her husband at the library, while he works, to read.

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