"Finished" | Reflection by Kaley Casenhiser

It’s strange to reflect on the word finished mid-Holy week. We are nearing the formal completion of our physical and spiritual Lenten journey through the wilderness, but what is beyond its borders?

As we exit the desert with Jesus, I find myself contemplating: am I prepared to stay awake with Christ in the garden; to wait with Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross; to be called by name by a risen God at the opening of the tomb? I am readying my heart to be surprised as I exit Lent into Easter and witness the post-resurrection encounters that follow.

We help prepare each other for the twists and turns of the Passion on Maundy Thursday. When we wash one another’s feet, we imitate with water Mary Magdalene’s generous offering. Mary Magdalene poured cherished perfume on Jesus’s feet as an expression of love and prophetically prepared Christ for burial with her body. We too are preparing for burial and resurrection. When we tenderly wash one another’s dusty, wounded, well-loved feet with our hands we remember that it is only the touch of one who loves us that cleanses us. 

Lent has muddied my shoes, dug up root-mats in my relationships, and left blisters on my soles. Walking through the wilderness when it is chosen and when it is forced is intense, and the Passion narrative is a demanding act of remembrance. And yet, we know this story as sacred and good. Not the violence of crucifixion, but the miraculous mercy and intimacy of being forgiven by a God who is fully holy and fully human at the heart of it. The incarnation of God with us makes it possible to come to the cross and the tomb with our blistered bodies, memories, and tears to embrace the Beloved One with open arms.

So may we feast, and may we mourn, and may we live in the knowledge of God’s unconditional love for us. We are inadequate and yet, God loves us. May we trust in this truth and remember that all striving towards worthiness is finished at the cross.