By Pastor John Hulden
My big brother David (a pastor in Iowa) and I always greet each other this week using the catch phrase of Batman’s sidekick – Robin, the Boy Wonder. As a kid, I so loved watching the half-hour Batman TV series with Adam West as the title character and Burt Ward as Robin.
Good versus evil was so well defined. The unchanging ritual of the Joker or Riddler or Penguin capturing Batman and Robin at the end of the half-hour show on the Wednesday episode, and then, miraculously (again!) escaping and “winning” on the Thursday evening show. (If only I could walk up the sides of buildings and have every tool imaginable on my belt.)
Ah, I can long for simpler times.
“If only I could walk up the sides of buildings.”
With wars and unrest around the world, COVID, a mental health crisis, the deep political divide, racial disparities in education, the deeper divide between the rich and poor, … I can sometimes hear in my own mind, “Holy #@*^&, Batman!”
MY CHURCHY FRIENDS, blessings to you this week as you plan and carry-out Holy Week worship services and all that comes with them. I am cheering you on.
Beyond encouragement to pause and appreciate the Jesus story this week, I don’t have any wise or even pithy advice. But I will point you to Anne Lamott’s Facebook post as she approached her 68th birthday on Palm Sunday. Here are some lines I appreciated:
God, what a world. What a heartbreaking, terrifying freak show. It is completely ruining my birthday plans. … Turning 68 means you’ve seen what you’ve seen — Ukraine, Sandy Hook, the permafrost. … Marjorie Taylor Greene. By 68, you have seen dear friends literally ravaged by cancer, lost children, unspeakable losses. The midterms are coming up. My mind is slipping. My dog died. Really, to use the theological terms, it is just too frigging much. 
… So, what does that leave? Glad you asked: The answer is simple. A few very best friends with whom you can share your truth. … You call someone and tell them that you hate everyone and all of life, and they will be glad you called. They felt that way three days [ago] and you helped them pull out of it by making them laugh or a cup of tea. You took them for a walk, or to Target.
Also, besides our friends, getting outside and looking up and around changes us. … The world is warming up.
Well, how does us appreciating spring help the people of Ukraine? If we believe in chaos theory, and the butterfly effect, that the flapping of a Monarch’s wings near my home can lead to a weather change in Tokyo, then maybe noticing beauty — flapping our wings with amazement — changes things in ways we cannot begin to imagine. It means goodness is quantum. Even to help the small world helps. Even prayer, which seems to do nothing. Everything is connected.
… So, Sunday I will celebrate the absolutely astonishing miracle that I, specifically, was even born. As Fredrick Buechner wrote, “The grace of God means something like, ‘Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you.’” [Facebook post, April 5, 2022, at 12:32 p.m.]
So how do I plan to navigate this week? I will be Batman-like, of course, with an amazing smart phone and a Leatherman tool attached to my belt. Oh, and I will also spend time with my reliable family, good friends, helpful co-workers, spring walks outside, and Holy Week worship that leads us to the promise of this coming miraculous (again!) Sunday.