H is for Herod, Holy Week and Hosanna

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After Jesus Christ had been praying in Gethsemane (Letter G) he was arrested and taken to be tried for blasphemy. First he was sent to the High Priest, Caiaphas. Then to Pontius Pilate, who found out that he was a Galilean and came under Herod’s jurisdiction. Luke 23:1-12

The whole story is very dramatic.There are links to it (in all four gospels) in my Theme Reveal.

Holy Week is the name given to the last week in Lent, when the days immediately before Jesus’ resurrection are remembered. It begins with Palm Sunday, which will feature later in this series, although it has appeared previously on this blog. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Low Saturday (often called Easter Saturday nowadays, although traditionally that was the name for the Saturday after Easter Sunday) are also days in Holy Week, which are remembered for particular events.

This post is published on Maundy Thursday – the Thursday in Holy Week.

Hosanna was the chant of the crowd of children, who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Hosanna means, ‘Save!’

Easter Sunday

This post comes towards the end of the A to Z Challenge. Yesterday was the Letter R; tomorrow will be Letter S.

Both these letters appear in the word Easter. They also are required for the word Risen. On Easter Day Christians traditionally greet one another with the words, Christ is risen. The reply is, He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

During Lent (the weeks preceding Easter) Alleluia is rarely heard. On Easter Day God is praised with alleluias.

Have you watched the film, Risen?

Easter is a movable feast. That means that it does not have a fixed date like Christmas does. Instead it is calculated from the phases of the moon. Western and Eastern Christians do not agree on the date. Easter in the West coincides with Passover this year. (Does it always?) The first Easter occurred at Passover. On Palm Sunday I had to read the words of the chief priest in a dramatised reading. “We must not do it during the festival or the people will riot.”

They were plotting to have Jesus Christ, the Son of God put to death by crucifixion. This happened on a Friday. It is remembered on Good Friday. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. That is what is celebrated on Easter Sunday and throughout the Easter season. Jesus had predicted that this would happen, but his disciples had been unable to understand. I am quoting below from my earlier post on this subject: Easter Day

If you are celebrating Easter, I wish you a joyful Eastertide. If you are unfamiliar with the Easter story, it can be read on the Bible Gateway website. The story is told in each of the Gospels: Matthew 27:32-28:15, Mark 15:21-16:8, Luke 23:26-24:50  and John 19:16-20:30  If you are reading it for the first time, what do you think?

I pray that you will encounter the risen Lord and know the peace and joy which He offers to those who put their trust in Him.

The effect of our decisions on the environment

This post is a bit of a rant. Holy Week is a time for serious thought! I wondered what to write about this week, for publication on Maundy Thursday.

The Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge is about to begin. I haven’t finished reading any books, so a What I read post is not possible. So here is something I feel strongly about. The size of the problem is overwhelming. However if everyone did a little to reduce their use of plastic and synthetic materials, it would make a significant difference.

I have taken part in two organised beach cleans in the past few months and picked up litter on other occasions, putting plastic bottles and drinks cans in recycling skips. It is well-known that litter finds its way through inland waterways to the oceans.

There is a huge campaign against litter, plastic and other forms of pollution, which are damaging wildlife, especially marine life. The proliferation of hashtags relating to these issues bears witness to its reach on social media. Here are a few:-

#Plastic, #PlasticFree, #PlasticPollution, #BanPlastic, #PlasticKills, #PlasticFreeCoastlines, #2MinuteBeachClean, #StopThePlasticTide, #SurfersAgainstSewage

What I really want to highlight in this post is how our decisions regarding items we buy can also affect the environment. Much clothing is manufactured from synthetic (similar to plastic) material. It is interesting that plastic items may be recycled as polyester fleeces, for example. Not enough recycling takes place. In any case, we are warned that washing polyester clothing results in microplastics being released into our waterways.

Natural fibres are more friendly to the environment. Bamboo is a relatively new source of fibre for clothing and as a replacement for plastic drinking cups. Wool, cotton and silk are more traditional natural fibres, at least in the UK.

Consumers have rights, protected by law. For example, if goods are faulty they may be returned to the retailer for a refund. I wonder what the retailer does with the faulty goods. It is not cost-effective to repair a seam, which has not been stitched during manufacture, for instance. I suspect the goods are either sent for recycling or binned, ending up on land-fill sites.

It might be better for the environment to waive the right for a refund and repair the faulty item oneself. Of course there are many considerations. Safety may be an issue sometimes, but not in the case of finishing off an unfinished garment.

How do you react to the pollution problem? Have you changed your habits since this became such a high profile issue?