Maundy Thursday
Thursday, April 21, 2011
In which Holy Thursday is observed…
Despite the late arrival of Holy Week that year, it had come up suddenly that spring, and it was already Maundy Thursday.
At breakfast, Puck was having difficulty remembering the entirety of his standard prayer, and had been starting over several times, until Collette excused him with a…
“I think God understands. Could you say ‘Namen’?”
Puck drew a grin… “Namen!”
And the meal proceeded.
The day was cool, as it had been on Wednesday. The windows were open, and the sun was still out, in a quiet day of middle spring.
Puck played for no less than one hour with one of his birthday balloons, tossing it up in the air and hitting it repeatedly back into the air.
Into the afternoon…
OLeif obtained his motorcycle permit.
Linnea and Puck spent some time in between Linnea’s studies to immerse themselves in a world of cactus gardens and thunderstorms in Minecraft.
And Collette, as usual, was everlastingly busy trying to catch up with everything to be done, particularly before the summer arrived and new projects commenced.
Gray clouds pushed in towards the dinner hour.
Collette and Linnea discussed the health of fingernails.
OLeif returned in his horrific yellow, green, and brown plaid shirt with zipper against red, blue, and white plaid collard shirt… Collette was used to the wardrobe of a self-admitted nerd…
Collette went to town on another jar of Maranatha peanut butter, now that she was allowed it. Another mistake. Another promise not to purchase it again…
Rain was coming.
The Tenebrae service was held at seven o’clock.
The rain had already begun falling before they arrived.
And as the service of shadows began in the dim light of the church and the thirteen candles flickering on the table, there was a low rumble of thunder across the fields.
“…being salty as a Christian means at root being so profoundly satisfied by Christ as our eternal reward, we are freed from fear and greed for the sacrifices of love, while rejoicing at persecution.”
– John Piper