Words with emotional and verbal power:  

“Today Christianity stands at the head of this country — I pledge that I will never tie myself to those who want to destroy Christianity — We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit . . . in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess the past few years.”

Take these words at face value. Do these words resonate with you? Do they express something you long for?

On the first Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphal entry culminated in His entrance into the temple where men were trafficking in things other than righteousness and truth. When the traffickers in unrighteousness were out, the blind and the lame came in and He healed them. The children came in shouting Hosanna, meaning “save now” -Hebrew root -to succor, defend, preserve – to make safe. The temple was graced and honored; it became a hospital and a nursery. The chief priests responded in anger and asked if Jesus could hear what was being said.

She was an outcast woman, a Samaritan and therefore considered racially inferior. The Samaritans were a people of mixed race, and the Jews despised them more than “pure” gentiles because they saw Samaritans as polluting the blood of their forefathers. No decent Jew of that day would have passed through Samaria, where “they” lived. But the pursuing God went into territory that was considered polluted to meet with a polluted woman He would have been expected to avoid, reject, and condemn.

I have used the phrase, little by little, with trauma victims for many years. It is little by little you learn deep breathing so that you actually taste for short bits what it is like not to have anxiety and a racing heart. It is little by little you learn that you are now safe in the dark so you can sleep. Little by little you learn that aerobic exercise can in fact keep you from cutting yourself and drinking enough alcohol to put you on the floor.

On the first Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphal entry culminated in His entrance into the temple where men were trafficking in things other than righteousness and truth.  When the traffickers in unrighteousness were out, the blind and the lame came in and He healed them. The children came in shouting Hosanna, meaning “save now” -Hebrew root -to succor, defend, preserve – to make safe.  The temple was graced & honored; it became a hospital & a nursery. The chief priests responded in anger & asked if Jesus could hear what was being said – Save now!