O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Lent is nearing its close. Every year, we make this journey. Perhaps you've had one of those years when this season has felt meaningful, and you know that God's love has helped you to grow in an important way. But not all years are like that. Sometimes, it feels like a routine. Other years, we start off full of hope that we'll grow closer to God, but end the season feeling much as we did at the beginning. Then there are those years when we start off not paying much attention, and then Holy Week sort of sneaks up on us, and we find ourselves sensing God's presence in some new way.

I'm not sure what kind of year this has been for you. But although each one of us must walk our own journey of faith, this week our journeys converge. This last Sunday we joined together on the streets of Jerusalem to celebrate Palm Sunday, shouting hosannas and carrying palm branches. On Thursday we'll follow Jesus upstairs for the last supper, and into the garden to agonize and pray, and then into the halls where power dwells. On Friday we'll watch as he goes to the cross, and then we are left with the desolation of death, just as those disciples are. And yet, we know we'll find ourselves with the women at the tomb, frightened and wondering and glad at the idea that death wasn't the end of the story.

More than any other week of the year, this is the week when we put our own journeys aside, and walk alongside Jesus and one another. We retell the story we've heard a million times and yet can scarcely believe: a story of humility and gentleness; a story of anguish and suffering and despair; a story of grace and hopefulness that is not bounded by death. It's a story we all need to hear, a story we all need to tell, and a story that we long to have as the story of our own lives.

And that's really what Holy Week is all about. Of course, it's the story of what happened to a man named Jesus. But it's also the story of what God does in your life, in mine, in all of creation.

So do try and go to a service on Maundy Thursday, or on Good Friday. Remind yourself of why the story touches your life. That way, Easter morning will strike a much deeper chord - you'll know that new life is for you, too.