I’ve been a bit melancholy, suffering from what I shall call Old Folk’s Syndrome. That’s where you miss the people, places, and things of the past.

Here where I live we used to have such a fun Palm Sunday parade, walk through town swinging palms and playing music, and end with hot dogs, hamburgers, and more music. Good music, good fellowship, good message. I woke up all excited for the day……and then remembered those things are no more.

Worse yet, many of my favorite people who made it so special have now passed on.

Someone smart told me my focus is all wrong, my relationship with time is all upside down. I’m looking back and grieving what isn’t there. I only feel sad because I’m looking for people in all the wrong places. The people I miss aren’t back there, they are actually in front of me, up ahead on the path.

That notion cheered me up immensely. The people, places, things I miss are not behind me and moving farther away, they are actually up ahead of me and coming closer.

Jesus Himself teaches us that He is not behind us, but rather He goes before us. Jesus is the One who was and is and is to come.

Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week, it marks the triumphant arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday kind of switches us into a bit more meditation, somber reflection. perhaps. Those of us privileged to have been born 2000 years after this story took place, know the crucifixion is coming on Good Friday. Holy week marks a slow and steady walk to the cross, so it’s one that’s tempered with grief and sorrow.

Ahhh, but Resurrection Day is coming!