It’s that time of year again, friends! 

We have made it through Lent and find ourselves steeped in Holy Week, that hard and holy time that begins with shouts of "Hosanna!” and ends with the silence of the tomb. We journey with Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem, as he rides on the back of a donkey while others lay their garments and palm branches before him. We stare in shock at a cursed fig tree and overturned market tables. We sit in pained silence as the Savior cries for another way, for God to take the cup of suffering from him. We run with the disciples as soldiers arrive, deny knowing Christ alongside Peter, and hide amongst the crowds as Jesus is tried, beaten, and mocked. We travel, step after painful step, to the hill called The Skull, where Jesus will hang. We hear his cries, we see the soldiers jeering…

and we weep, as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, dies. 

This week we call “Holy” holds so much, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, we are also in the midst of a different kind of cycle on campus. Our students here at TLU are working hard to wrap up sports seasons, get in one more performance, and finish that final paper before the push toward finals. Tension and anxiety is high, and everyone—students, faculty, staff, and administrators—are zealously pushing to make it to the end of the year, to celebrate the accomplishments of another completed semester, and to shift to the next chapter, whether it is graduation, summer internships and classes, landing that perfect summer job, or taking a well-deserved time just to breathe. Many look at the present and wonder how they will ever overcome the mountain of obstacles that stands between them and the finish line. Others are looking toward the not-so-distant-enough future, fearful of what tomorrow holds and the unknowns hiding within it. 

Life, whether we call it holy or not, holds so much, too, doesn’t it?

One of the things I love most about my job is finding the connecting points between the cycles of the church calendar and the seasons of our students’ lives. I’ve treasured the conversations I've been able to have with students this semester—especially during this Lenten season!—about calling, vocation, and the adventure that is life. It feels that, even more so than in years past, the recurring theme of these conversations has held the same emotional turmoil, the same highs and lows, and the same liminal holiness as the stories that cap off Lent, and I consider it a gift and joy to be able to share these moments with our students.