Chased by Time or Held by God?
This week I have been haunted by the question, “Where am I avoiding growth? Where am I becoming hardened instead of transformed? The theme that we have been exploring over Lent and into Holy week about moving from shadow to light, has been challenging and illuminating for me. As I was thinking about what to share with you all this week, I kept looking at my pictures and statues of Captain Hook. I think that there is a surprisingly powerful connection with the story of Peter Pan and Holy Week. Both live in that tension between light and shadow, innocence and fear, letting go and holding on.
In the story, Captain Hook is haunted by the ticking clock inside the crocodile that bites off his hand. Time is literally chasing him, and he cannot escape it. Captain Hook clings to control, status, and image. He is clearly afraid of ending - of aging, loss, death and change. Hook represents fearful resistance. Jesus on the other hand, during the last week of his life, faces these shadows. Jesus walks toward death with awareness and surrender. Hook tries to control everything - his ship, his crew, his image, but when he can no longer hide in the shadows what we see is a man who is fragile, easily threatened, and someone who is very insecure. In contrast, Peter Pan refuses to grow up. He lives in eternal avoidance - never facing consequences, grief or responsibility. In Holy Week, we discover that religious leaders are trying to control Jesus. Pilate is trying to control the situation, and the crowd then tries to control the outcome.
Holy Week offers a different path. Jesus chooses to embrace the fullness of life, he takes time to eat and celebrate with his disciples. He takes time to pray and embrace his sorrow in the garden of Gethsemane. He then surrenders to the suffering on the cross, leading to his death. But death is not the end. God is inviting us not to stay young or become hardened with age. Through Jesus’s death and resurrection we are being invited to become fully alive and transformed. Thus the question - where am I avoiding growth? Where am I becoming hardened instead of transformed? Captain Hook is a vivid image of what happens when we are ruled by our shadow instead of facing it. Holy Week does something radical: it brings the shadow into light. Betrayal, violence, fear, abandonment - nothing is hidden. That is probably why most people avoid coming to the extra services during the week leading to Easter. Think about it, for Captain Hook, the clock that is constantly ticking leads to panic, but for Jesus, the approaching hour leads to purpose. Jesus says, “My hour has come…” Even in anguish, Jesus moves toward prayer, trust and surrender, not without struggle, but with grounding. Holy Week moves us from panic and fear to presence and finally to peace. The theme of this Lent and Holy Week is teaching us that we don’t escape our fear or our shadows, but we are called as followers of Jesus to walk through the shadow and when we do we will discover that we are not alone. I hope you will consider participating in all the Holy Week services this year, so that we can experience the depth of resurrection. Holy Week gives us a sacred space to face the shadows honestly, instead of avoiding them. And in doing so, it tells the truth: God is present in all of it. When we walk the road with Jesus Easter feels different.
Blessings to you all this Holy Week. Rev. Karen