Today’s Word: ‘Revolution’ as in… Palm Sunday: the revolution begins. I grew up absolutely loving Palm Sunday. In my home congregation the whole morning was amazing! I was endlessly fascinated with the ancient stories and the traditions connected to this day. Palm Sunday was festive! I had new clothes, dad wore a suit and tie, my mom wore a dress she had created. She also wore a hat. The only thing better than Palm Sunday was Easter Sunday – bookends to arguably the most important several days in the life of the faith community. Imagine this scene: the stained-glass windows reverberating as music from the electronic Baldwin organ fills the sanctuary, giving new meaning to the phrase “pulling out all of the stops!” There were loads of palm branches on hand for people to wave during the singing of all five verses of “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” Kids of all ages processed down the aisle and around the sides of the pews shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” It was so much fun! Such a parade! After the Palm Sunday worship service, people lingered and talked; adults enjoyed coffee and doughnuts. Kids drank weak lemonade out of Dixie Cups while they safely played outside on the church lawn on this sunny morning. I only remember it being sunny. Selective memory on my part, it was the Pacific Northwest after all. But I can’t ever remember Palm Sunday being anything other than sunny. In my memory, Palm Sunday was warm, safe, festive, joyous. But the original Palm Sunday was a lot different. It was far from fun, it wasn’t at all safe. It was aggressive, hostile, terrifying, highly charged and deeply political. To understand that, we have to read the original stories. If the next few entries of “Today’s Word” are going to make any sense, I’m going to have to ask you to read a few lines from the original story. Here’s your homework; you won’t regret this. Read Mark 11:1-10 and meet me here again tomorrow.