Alana Levandoski
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Metanoia: for Palm Sunday

4/13/2019

8 Comments

 

Tonight, as I was tucking my children into their beds, I told them that tomorrow is Palm Sunday. My 5-year- old asked me if Palm Sunday was related to Palm Desert, because he was at the Palm Desert zoo once, and traces the roads to Palm Desert, on his atlas, with his finger.


I told them that Palm Sunday and Palm Desert both had Palm tree branches (and decided not to say anything about golf, or washed up Hollywood actors).


Then I told them that Palm Sunday was about the story when Jesus rides the donkey along the road as people laid Palm branches down on the road and sang “hosannah in the highest!”


But then I said, Jesus chose a little donkey to ride, so that all the people who weren’t as big or strong could see that Jesus knows everyone is important, no matter how big they are.


Our kids are really into the story of King Arthur, and how he pulled the sword from the stone when he was a little boy, even when all the big muscle men couldn’t do it. So my 5-year-old said, “Jesus riding the donkey and not a big, big horse is sort of like when Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, and a miracle happened right there in London, that a little boy nobody saw, and not the big guys, was the king.”


Then he said, “Sometimes it might be, like, a person who gets to drive a wheelchair who’s king or queen. Or like someone who’s really, really, really old. Or like a little girl could pull the sword from the stone, too. Not just all the big grown up ladies with long hair.”

Um… move over Alana. I’ll just let my son write the reflection this week.

In the spirit of those innocent words, I am going to share another song from the Meditation With Children album. This one is called Metanoia. Which is often translated as “repent”. But really, it means to “move into the larger mind”.


The line “move beyond what you first see” was inspired by the definition of the word "respect". Re-spect. To look twice. Which feels fitting for my son’s expanding awareness of seeing worth, everywhere.

As Richard Rohr so simply puts it: “how we see is what we see”. If we’re looking through eyes controlled by a mind that is disconnected from our heart, we begin to see only certain types of humans and other-than-humans, as having value. And we certainly fail to innovate in the direction of abundance and life. 
​
A blessed Palm Sunday to you. With a special thanks to children’s imaginations, everywhere.

​May we see abundantly.

​
8 Comments
LaVerna
4/14/2019 07:19:16 am

Out of the mouths of babes......the wisdom of God. What a good reminder for us as we enter Holy Week!

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Lora
4/14/2019 03:10:47 pm

Amen!

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Diane Gilliam-Weeks
4/14/2019 07:47:00 pm

So lovely - I could picture the whole thing including the characters in his story.

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Shelly Olson
4/15/2019 05:46:24 am

Thank you for my Easter proclamation song/sermon. I will sing this for Mary magdalene

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Tom
4/15/2019 02:38:03 pm

Lovely song. Thank you. I liked your thoughts about the meaning of the words repent, respect and metanoia. William Blake wrote “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.” And in this he means to look at the tree with the heart and not the mind.
“The Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it." - Gospel of Thomas

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Susan Chaudoir
4/15/2019 08:26:45 pm

I continue to be blessed by you 3000 km away! So thankful you remain faithful to your calling! What a blessing! May we see one another again soon! My heart is full of love and my mind is at peace.

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Regina Reilly link
4/15/2019 09:19:20 pm

I am touched and delighted at the beauty of a mind that has not been very patterned yet, that therefore, naturally sees/feels connections between words (palms...) and also imagines the various possibilities that come from a true story. Bless you and your children for giving us a reminder of "becoming like little children..."

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Lee Warren
4/16/2019 06:04:29 pm

My children's meditation CD arrived and I gave it to my six-yr-old granddaughter who was visiting. When her mother came to pick her up there were several outbursts (wails) over her big sister not sharing and playing kindly. On the way back to NC the youngest asked to put in the CD and the first chant says "the love of God is within you." Little one said, "That song is perfect for Maddie. She can let the love of God shine through her and be nicer and share."

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    Alana Levandoski is a song and chant writer, recording artist and music producer, in the Christian tradition, who lives with her family on a regenerative farm on the Canadian prairies.

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