Hidden Mickey Monday

I hope you will forgive my absence for much of last week--besides a full week of Easter preparations at our church that included numerous rehearsals, a Good Friday service, a dramatic "Walk Through Jerusalem" experience, and our Easter Sunday morning worship, we've also been making the final preparations to get our home on the market! Needless to say, it was a busy week. I hope to regain some sort of grasp on a normal schedule this week.

There is, however, a Hidden Mickey connection to all this Easter business (or, perhaps that should be busy-ness). Our Next Gen pastor Josh and his family are big Disney fans, just like we are. During "Walk Through Jerusalem" he played the narrator, Benjamin. In the final room that guests visit, he sits at a desk and explains all that they have seen, and essentially offers the Good News of Jesus' resurrection. But in true Josh fashion, he added a little something to his desk--a Hidden Mickey made from one of the loose strands of burlap that covered the walls. (It's a little hard to see in this photo, but it's there in the front.)

 photo by Neil Andrews

Despite the momentary levity, the Walk Through Jerusalem is an amazing experience that allows guests to catch just a glimpse of what it might have been like during Jesus' last days of human life. And since this is my website and I can do whatever I want (and hope you keep reading!) here are a couple of bonus pics with a personal connection. The first is my husband, Scott, as "Shadow Jesus," and the last is a photo of my girls and me next to the well that one of our awesomely skilled church members built. And yes, there was a "woman at the well" who told about her encounter with Jesus.

 photo by Lori Floyd

 photo by Faye Harlin

If you live in the Nashville area, this is an annual event at New Hope Community Church in Brentwood. Mark it on your calendar and listen to WAY-FM or read Nashville/Williamson Parent for specific information on dates/times next year. And you can always visit our website for more information on the church and it's events.

Good Friday

I'm sorry for not posting sooner. Our family has spent most of today at church. This morning, we were preparing for our Walk Through Jerusalem experience tomorrow. My husband is playing  "Shadow Jesus"--that's Jesus on the Cross in shadow--and I'm helping out.  Then tonight I sang at our Good Friday Service of the Nails, where we heard graphic details of what Jesus' last week on earth might have been like.

All these activities have put Jesus' suffering and sacrifice in the forefront of my mind. It's hard to comprehend celebrating in someone's suffering, and yet we can celebrate Good Friday (yes, it is GOOD!) because we know that Sunday is just around the corner. I hope you will indulge me while I share a new insight that came to me tonight.

I have long known that the Temple Veil--the one that separated us from the Holy of Holies--was ripped from top to bottom at the moment of Jesus' death. This literal event is ripe with symbolism, as it allowed us direct access to the presence of God. But only tonight did it strike me in a unique and clear way that this didn't happen after the Resurrection--it happened at the point of death. Now, I don't want to present skewed theology, but it occurred to me that perhaps we place a bit too much emphasis  on the Resurrection. Hear me out: if the Veil was torn at the point of death, and if Jesus was the Ultimate Sacrifice--one that would prevent us from ever having to sacrifice another animal for our sin--then we had communion with the Father when Jesus died. In other words, it was the blood sacrifice of Jesus that makes an unholy people appear holy before our Heavenly Father.

I don't want to diminish the Resurrection. It's what we all wait for, right? But I think sometimes we try to rush through the pain to get to the celebration. All the while, we forget that it was Jesus' work on the Cross that frees us.

Thank you, dear reader, for allowing me to share my personal reflection. I promise to be back to "All Disney, All the Time" by Monday. If you happen to live in the Nashville area, please join us for Walk Through Jerusalem, Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at New Hope Community Church in Brentwood.