This is by far the most sacred time of the liturgical year, and it certainly deserves the attention of a blog post. What's more is that Passover and National Libraries' Week all fall at this same time, combining three of my favorite things: Paschal Mystery, ancient Jewish traditions, and places that house books!
However, I won't be devoting much in this entry to any of those things, but not for a lack of passion for the aforementioned (no pun intended, but go ahead and laugh anyway). If you are interested in meditations on Holy Week, check out this post by Mudblood Catholic. He's quite good. What I will say is that, after listening to the Passion narrative from Matthew's Gospel this morning, it occurred to me how important it is to hear the actual words of the Gospel. This, of course, is a no-brainer, but in our world today, so influenced by the depictions and representations in movies, songs and art, we can forget just how the story actually follows in one or another Gospel. And it's crucial to remember that the authors had a point they were trying to get across, and, especially in these passion narratives which can so often be treated like a re-watching of the movie "Titanic" - we know how it ends - everything they wrote was imbued with the message they wanted to make known about Jesus, God the Father & Holy Spirit, and humanity. So stepping off this soap-box, I'll just say that there's so, so much to be gleaned from today's long reading, even more than might be offered in a cinema-worthy dramatization highlighting physical suffering. A mystery is unfolding - stay awake.
As evidenced by the title of this post, however, I want to say a few words about cherry blossoms. In the DC area, the blossoms have peaked this weekend, and I was blessed enough to check out the myriad of flowers surrounding the tidal basin downtown on Friday. Breath-taking! And to see families, friends, lovers and solitary admirers out and about enjoying the blossoms was incredible. I recall seeing a young woman having a friend take cutesy photos of her with the blossoms. And while I would normally would think that there might be something narcissistic about it, I could see that the star of the pictures was not going to be the young woman, but the delicate, beautiful little blooms.( In any case, I took a selfie with the blossoms myself, so I really can't talk about disdain for narcissism.) What amazed me so much was all the excitement, all the delight and pleasure that was being taken in something so natural, so God-given, so unimposing: simple little flowers. No loud fanfare (at least not on that day), no big light-show or grand speeches or celebrities. Just cherry blossoms.
Now even though it's Holy Week, and maybe a more reflective post about it's significance could be written, it was so necessary to write about these blooms here and now, because that is what they teach us: Here and Now. The caption in the April 14th issue of Time notes on page 10, "In Japan, the brevity of the one-to-two week blossom season has sometimes served as a symbolic reminder that human life is brief as well." As I walked along downtown DC, I couldn't help thinking about this "lesson of the cherry blossom"... or humming the theme from Memoirs of a Geisha*, a movie I insisted on watching last night because the motif of the blossom plays out in the film's theme: life is short, and we must savor it.
This, indeed, is why it is so imperative that I write this now and not later, even though I'm procrastinating on my term paper for Hebrew. Already, I see the green leaves peeking out from the popcorn-like puffs of pink blooms. Their time is coming to an end soon, and I have to honor them in some way before they go. Speaking of procrastination though, I was incidentally watching Ellen DeGeneres' stand-up comedy routine entitled "Here and Now" with a friend today. Her closing remarks to "Procrastinate now. Don't put it off" are profound beyond measure. That is what these cherry blossoms are all about. That is why I dodged a bit of Greek homework to get on the metro and see them two days ago. And that is why I had to share all this before the window of relevance closed.
Furthermore, I received a card today from a dear friend urging me, like he always does, to "be myself" and to share my gifts with others. Well, I don't know if blogging about blossoms is much of a gift, but these precious flowering trees were so much on my mind and in my heart that I thought it would be an insult to him if I didn't write about them. Thanks Nick.
Like the cherry blossoms,
Life is so brief,
So enjoy life,
And savor every moment.
* I highly recommend the book and movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, and the film's soundtrack. And let me just say that I think John Williams was robbed of a much deserved Oscar for his work on that score.
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