Baptism of infants used to focus on the child, the story of Jesus taking the children to himself. I have to admit, the first time I read that to first-time parents with their beautiful baby in their arms, I cringed a bit. But you see, that is the kind of world we are in. We acknowledge the reality of evil in many forms and know full well that our children will need all the grace, all the courage, and all the strength they can muster. They will need the circling love the family and church and the ever-present grace of God if they are to be all God intends them to be.
Evil is large, cosmic, organized, subtle, pervasive and real.
No pipe dreams or fanciful fiction about the fabric of human existence. The joyous hymns of Palm Sunday are set in the context of a broken world where evil waits to do its worst. This week we call Holy includes more than a garden of temptation, where Jesus would struggle with evil. It includes more than a cross where evil would have its day. Beyond the darkness of a tomb where death seemed to reign, this week will end in a morning of resurrection and a dawn of hope.