Dear Reader:

How many times over a lifetime have we felt reluctant to attend some type of a gathering for many diversified reasons….

Perhaps we’re afraid of being dressed inappropriately, not looking perfect in our own eyes, or not knowing anyone to hang with or simply feeling like the outsider and/ or scared of being ridiculed. We have all been there … but, upon reflection, most of the times we return feeling glad we went and proud of our own personal bravery.

In these reflective days leading to Easter Sunday … how must Jesus have felt returning one last time to Jerusalem… remembered today as Palm Sunday. Because there was a difference in His arrival… He knew that this day … His entrance … would be the beginning, the catalyst of His last days on earth in human form.

He knew, for certain, what awaited Him… betrayal, suffering, ridicule, and yes…isolation. And yet …He went anyway. And contrary to the rest of us ( today’s title) Jesus was present and He was perfect! God’s Son… and a proud Father/Son.

But, no doubt, human thoughts and feelings ran through Him also. He was leaving His Mother, family and closest friends. He would die with the sounds of jeers and taunts prevailing over soft sobs and broken hearts.

And yet… upon palm fronds thrown in front of Jesus’s path through Jerusalem… the ” righteousness” of Jesus would be proclaimed to the people.

I was thinking the other day… if there had been thank you cards back then… what would it look like or say on the cover. What could come close today?

God Wink! I found it! Can’t believe I did!

So until tomorrow… Jesus was and continues to be the greatest “present” we humans have ever received… and why? … because Jesus stays present in our lives. Reach out today and hold His Hand! What a friend we have in Jesus!

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Remember.. we don’t have to be perfect for every situation we find ourselves in but we need to be present… sometimes that is all any of us need or can give back.