By Ariel Merivil
I was recently asked, “What is your favorite church season to plan music for?” As a musician who has spent most of my working life leading worship, you’d think that would be an easy question. It wasn’t. And honestly, I’m still not sure I have an answer.
But as I reflect on this Palm Sunday, I find myself moved by the memory of the very first time I experienced a service like ours.
I grew up in a faith tradition that didn’t really celebrate Palm Sunday. I knew the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem days before his crucifixion, but it was just that: a story. It wasn’t until I was an adult, working in music ministry, that I truly experienced it. Watching an entire congregation exuberantly wave palm branches, singing hymns of faith while children carried their palms to the cross, it took my breath away. It still does. The story of Jesus came alive for me that day.
And while my understanding of its complexities has deepened over the years, the story remains just as real. What irony: a humble servant, riding a donkey, celebrated as king by his neighbors, only to be crucified by those same people days later. This arc of the Passion is one we rarely get to sit with. Palm Sunday invites us to do exactly that.
In today’s anthem, A New Jerusalem Arise, we are called to imagine a city where sickness, hatred and indifference have no place, where justice, peace and real unity take root. In a world full of war, loss and daily distress, it can feel impossible to hold that vision alongside a jubilant procession.
And yet, I believe that’s precisely the point.
As we carry palm branches into this space today, dancing with the signs of spring and new life, may we see in them a reminder that the Spirit of God is still alive and moving in and through us. May these branches be a sign of what we are called to become.
May Wilshire be a new Jerusalem rising, a city on a hill, a light to Dallas and beyond, a community that lives out kindness, goodness and compassion for all people, so that all might know the redeeming love of a God who is in the business of saving. Saving all people.