Dear Easter People, During Holy Week, the pastors at my son Tim’s church share reflections on the Jesus seven words from the cross. I would like to share one that Tim wrote in 2019. “I am thirsty” These words ring out from the cross lest we forget Christ’s humanity and, in so doing, forget our own. The thirsting Christ is still present among us, crying out for an end to his suffering, begging for a simple drink. The thirsting Christ is the little girl who goes home on Friday, unsure if she will eat again before she returns to school on Monday. The thirsting Christ is the black body gunned down without a trial. The thirsting Christ is the single parent, weeping from exhaustion after a week of working three jobs. The thirsting Christ is the transgendered kid, kicked out of their home and living on the street. The thirsting Christ is the isolated widower, whiling away another lonely day with no one to visit. The thirsting Christ is the Central American asylum seeker, detained and separated from her children, hoping only for safety and a better life. The thirsting Christ is the military daughter who just learned that she’ll never see her mom again. The thirsting Christ is the divorced neighbor who wonders when life will feel like life again. The thirsting Christ is the community mourning after a natural disaster, made deadlier by human excess, consumption, and greed. The thirsting Christ is the child who takes her own life after being traumatized by a school shooting and realizing that her country will do nothing to stop this from happening again. The thirsting Christ is in Parkland and Chicago, Guatemala and Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Indonesia, Ethiopia and Sudan, Charlottesville and Saint Paul and right here in this place. Will we have the eyes to see him? Will we have the ears to hear him? Will we have the faith to give him the water he needs? In Christ’s Love, Pastor Tim
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