Palm Sunday. Many churches celebrate with some sort of decoration of palm branches, even if they are just in a vase somewhere in the church. Many pastors preach the sermon about Jesus entering Jerusalem and the people praising Him with palm branches. On Palm Sunday 2011, I believe my pastor spoke on something about Palm Sunday. I think. I do know he made the following announcement: “Come join us next week on Easter at our new location in Hollywood.” Yes, we were moving the week before Easter!
Our church was meeting in West Los Angeles. The drive to Hollywood can be anywhere from twenty minutes to forty-five minutes, depending on events of the day, but people moved with enthusiasm. That week before Easter, several volunteers came and cleaned up the new building that we were renting. We arrived early on Easter for a lunch at 1pm and continued to clean and set-up the church for the 5pm service. It was beautiful. I believe we had a dry ice machine. No, wait. That was dust from all our cleaning that filled the room. When I drove home, I was covered in dust, but it was amazing because I knew that our church was embarking on a new journey that would catapult us into serving the community in so many new ways. From that one move, so much growth came.
On that Palm Sunday that my pastor made that announcement, I have no idea if people yelled and screamed. I doubt that they did. I’m sure they left in shock. I have no idea because I was not there. I was not sick nor was I out of town. I had the largest project due for my credential class that following Wednesday and I had to go to work that week, so I was sitting in a coffee shop doing my work on the project. I took a fifteen-minute break to look at social media and saw the announcement. I was stunned. I smiled. I loved that my church makes changes and with the changes growth occurs. I grew that Palm Sunday and Easter in my spiritual life to trust God. Our leaders trusted that God would move the hearts of people to move to a new location on Easter. Most churches have sent out their invites with their address on them. We were getting the word out as best as we could that we had a new address.
When life gives us a sudden change, it’s how we respond that determines our attitudes and mental and emotional state. Change is necessary and it usually comes unexpectedly. My spiritual growth has taken me on a journey that is beyond traditions, rules, and rituals, so when a drastic change comes in life, I have been able to adapt. I have been able to use that time to grow.
Being in quarantine was a sudden change. The week before we were told that we would close school for what was to be for two weeks, there was anxiety if we would close the schools or not. Once the announcement was made, there was relief that we could be safe, but there were plenty of uncertainties. We are now approaching our fourth week. I thought for sure we would be able to have church on Easter, but with change, nothing is certain.
It’s one thing to say to walk by faith and not by sight and actually do it. Walking by faith means we live one day at a time. It involves walking forward and not walking in the past or suggesting that others walk in the past with you. We have to walk in the world today and move toward the future. We must change because the only way we can grow is to change. Growth can be painful, but it is always worth it. Change is not always fun, but it is necessary in order to grow. We cannot grow without change and we cannot change without growth.
Being in quarantine is a change for most people. For those of us who work outside of the house, this is strange. Home is a place where I have tried not to bring my work. I will take my work to a coffee shop, but not in the sanctity of my home, but now I have to do work at home and invite my coworkers and students into my home through Zoom. It’s a change and a growth. I have to change my attitude that my home is not a place to waste time but it can also be a space to create and share my work with others. It’s a change that many of us do not want or desire, but we need to use this change to grow.
We have to decide to make mental, spiritual and emotional growths during this time in quarantine. We no longer have the excuse that we don’t have the time. We have the time. We may have to change our routine or change some habits that are not advancing our growth in these areas. We can turn off the news and turn on our minds to what we can do. Let’s use this time to make a difference in the world, even if that difference is not noticed until much later.
You would think I would have learned my lesson for missing church on Palm Sunday, but I didn’t. Today, I have tickets for my family and I to cheer on the Angels and boo the Houston Astros at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. Dodger fans were going to attend in droves. (I had my Dodger gear ready.) The game was going to be in the afternoon, and with the commute, I would have missed the morning services, of which I attend. I may have attended the evening service, but most likely it would have been on livestream. This quarantine changed me. It reminded me of that Palm Sunday that brought change and amazing growth to my church. I will appreciate being live in church on any Sunday.
That Palm Sunday in 2011 is forever in my heart and seared in my memory. It has only been in recent years with my spiritual life that I have understood the importance and goodness of change. I have discovered that change leads to growth, and if there is no growth, you either don’t change or let go of the new idea, but you cannot go back to the past. On the first Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem and the people cheered because they believed he would change the world politically. He did change the world, just not politically but so much better with the sacrifice of his life. This Palm Sunday and Easter, may we change how we see Jesus beyond the traditions and rituals with beautiful clothes and come to the throne with a beautiful heart that has the time to be open and listen to His voice. Let us use this quarantine to change our hearts and begin to align our hearts with the heart of Jesus.
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