On a recent walk, Jesus’ words “Forgive them, Father, they don’t know what they are doing,” created the rhythm for my steps. While they hammered nails, jeered and questioned his identity Jesus breathed forgiveness on his perpetrators. This great mystery has stayed with me through the Easter season.

40,000 Blue Jay fans leapt to their feet yelling “Yeah” when Justin Smoak hit a grand slam homer yesterday afternoon. Maybe a million more joined me from our easy chairs – it had been a dark beginning to the baseball season for Jays fans.

It’s Monday of Holy Week and as we try to connect with the events of Jesus’ last days, his resounding “No” calls us to a deeper mystery. He’s more troubled than I’ve ever been, facing darkness greater than I’ve seen. He is about to defeat the enemy of us all and the author of all the reasons we express desperate prayers.

  “I know an old lady who swallowed a fly”, was a goofy campfire song we’d use back in my youth ministry days. With each verse she’d add a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, a goat, a cow and finally a horse! “I don’t know why she swallowed the fly” was a recurring chorus.

Good bricklayers are hard to find and expensive – as I discovered last Fall when we needed our chimney cap repaired. The problem was much worse than we first thought but the bricklayer carefully removed and replaced dozens of bricks and the chimney is fine now. Bricks came and went but the chimney continues to serve its purpose.