Hi Joy Wilson

Thank you for your comment at Provoketive Magazine (http://provoketive.com). We’re creating a space of rich conversation about life, faith, justice and culture without judgment. Our desire is to provoke the reader’s imagination through conversation and open up spaces of dialogue, learning, and hope.  We want to invite you to come back soon and continue to participate in the conversation. 

Thank you,
Jonathan Brink
Provoketive Magazine

You posted the following comment:
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I totally agree with you, Ray.  For me, I find the reading of the gospel accounts combined with visual symbolism very moving and much more realistic that any reinactment play.  Churches do  this in a variety of ways, but when the story comes to life in our imaginations, God makes it personal for us.

In my church, the Maunday Thursday and Good Friday services make the events from the Last Supper through the death of Christ come alive for me.  On Thursday, we read how Jesus washed his disciples' feet, then we wash each others' feet.  We are told what Jesus said about the bread and wine, then share Communion together.  The altar and altar area are stripped of everything except for the cross which is covered in black, while the lights dim as we sing "Stay with me, remain here with me. Watch and pray."  These rituals enable me to "see" what happened that night.

On Good Friday, the Biblical account is read of Jesus' trial and suffering, ending in death.  Meditations are intertwined, like when Peter denies Christ, we are asked, "When have you denied knowing Jesus?"  Gradually the lights are dimmed and we leave in silence.

Churches observe Holy Week in a variety of ways.  But, for me, the scenes God shows me in my mind make the story real and very personal.  A reinactment is neither real nor does it make the story of those three days personal.