Promises to Keep

March 26 is the birthday of the poet Robert Frost. His most famous poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, ends with these lines: “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep / But I have promises to keep / And miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep.”

As we approach the end of Lent, we may feel like we still have many miles to go as Holy Week beckons us to recall Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, his last supper with his disciples, his betrayal, arrest, trial, scourging, and crucifixion, and the placing of his body in a tomb. As followers of Jesus, we have promises to keep: to serve others as Jesus served his disciples, and to break bread together in remembrance of him.

Through his life and death, Jesus reminds us of what Robert Frost proclaimed in another poem, Birches: “Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” Earth’s the right place for love because God came to live among us in the person of Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection as the Christ assures us that wherever we go after we die is also the right place for love, because Christ is there as well.

Blessings on your Holy Week as you remember, recommit to, and celebrate Christ’s eternal love and presence. If it weren’t still Lent, I would say, “Alleluia!”