Osler's Razor

This morning in church I enjoyed one of my favorite scenes of the year-- a sea of children coming into the church, waving palms. I wonder what it would have been like to be in that crowd. Somehow, I'll bet that the people greeting Jesus as he entered Jerusalem included those who were not his followers. In that crowd were people who just happened to be nearby and caught up in the spirit, no matter their background.

In Sunday School, we read Galations 3, which includes some of Paul's best writing as he argues for Christianity to be an inclusive religion:

In Jesus Christ you are all children of God through faith... There is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Jesus Christ.

That's pretty stirring stuff, and challenging to a society with sharp divisions between us in so many ways. It is a statement of equality that our society still struggles with, especially in our churches. Too often we dwell on divisions and the heresies of others, and forget about this amazing commonality.

We all get a palm frond, we all are the children, we all welcome Christ, and there is great joy in that if we choose to embrace it.