A pastor once said this in a sermon. "God's grace is always at your left elbow." Years later that has stuck with me. It was with me through 2 surgeries, I have used it in meeting with others. I pondered this with a couple of people in my congregation and one of them had an answer that made so much sense. "If God's grace is at your left elbow, you are at the right hand of God." The right hand in the ancient world was the side of strength, power and blessing. So for God's grace to be at your left elbow, God's right hand is beside you. Love it!

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As we arrive at Easter, we have come through the darkness of Holy Week. The tender moments in the upper room replaced with the fear and frenzy of the Passion on Good Friday, although Jesus remains calm. It reminded me of Psalm 23 and that as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death that God walks with us. A reminder that we must walk through the darkness to get to the light. How can we live in calm and not in fear as we seek to share the light and love of Jesus?

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We have entered Holy Week. The palm branches and shouts of "Hosanna" have faded, and if we rush directly to Easter and "Hallelujah!" we miss so much of the story. Holy Week is hard. In the Gospel of Luke the Triumphal Entry is in chapter 19 and Easter is Chapter 24. The teaching, cleansing of the temple, Last Supper, betrayal, arrest, denial, trial, beating, mocking and crucifixion that occur are the hard parts and they are also the necessary parts. Without the hard parts, we miss that God is with us through all of the hard parts of life. Pause this week and remember that God holds the hard parts too.

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