Holy Excellence

The palm branches that the people laid at Jesus' feet have deep significance in the ancient world, and they were often used to adorn champions, athletes, warriors, and olympians. This means that when Jesus is walking on them, the people are making a connection between him and other highly praised people, which include the people who were victorious in sport and war through actions that the culture of the time thought of as excellent. But Jesus rode low on a donkey and called the people to a different kind of excellence - a kind of holy excellence that is not about being good at everything, but instead about rising above our feelings of success and failure to a place of love and grace. Join us on Sunday to contemplate how the real holy excellence is in finding your gifts, not being hard on yourself, pushing yourself to do better, and yet striving toward that betterness without fear and anxiety.