Image © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com. Used by permission.

Discover the sacred fragments of life and faith in Jan Richardson’s Palm Sunday as Rev. Rob McPherson shares an joyful conversation with the artist. Journey through prayer, brokenness, and hope woven into collage and scripture. Where is God calling you to move along the golden road today?

John 12:12-16

Use this guide for prayer and contemplation. Read slowly, pausing as needed for silence and reflection.

Opening

Find a comfortable place to rest your body. Let your shoulders soften.

Take a slow breath in… and a slow breath out.

Stay here a moment.

Reflection on Contemplative Prayer

God of quiet presence, we come as we are—whole and scattered, certain and unsure. As we pray with this image, teach us the simple rhythm of showing up—especially when showing up feels hard. Like prayers penciled onto a canvas and then covered over, let what we cannot see still infuse this time. Meet us among the fragments and scraps—the parts we would rather hide or throw away. In your economy, nothing is wasted.

Scripture

John 12:12–16 (The Inclusive Bible)

The next day, the great crowd that had come for the Passover feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they got palm branches and went out to meet him. They shouted joyfully, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of our God, the ruler of Israel.”

Jesus rode in, sitting upon a donkey in accord with Scripture. “Fear not, O people of Zion. Your ruler comes to you sitting on a donkey’s colt.” At the time, the disciples didn’t understand all this, but after Jesus was glorified, they recalled that the people had done to him precisely what had been written about him.

Holy Spirit, let a word or phrase rise gently in us—something we are being asked to carry today.

Artwork for Prayerful Reflection

Palm Sunday (“Gold Path”), Jan Richardson

Text for Reflection: “Blessing of Palms” by Jan Richardson

As you gaze, notice the gold path that stretches and seems to go beyond the horizon. See the green bands like palm leaves laid across the way, and the blue of the sky above it all.

Let the fragments and scraps become a doorway: pieces of Holy Week, and pieces of your own life—beautiful, painful, and unfinished.

Reflection Questions

As you look at this image, what details draw your attention first—color, texture, direction, space?

What feels like a “gold path” in your life right now—something that calls you forward, even if you cannot see where it leads?

How does Christ come toward you along this road—in what gentle approach, in what surprising nearness?

If you imagine yourself turned around on the path, what invitation do you sense to move—to return, to begin, to keep going?

What pieces in your life feel beautiful today, and what gratitude wants to be spoken?

What pieces feel ugly, ragged, or hard to look at, and what compassion is God offering you there?

What words or phrases from the scripture keep echoing in you, and what might they be asking you to notice?

When you hear “Fear not,” what fear in you wants to be named honestly before God?

As you listen for God’s inward, quiet nudges, what response is forming—one small step, one prayer, one act of trust?

Closing

God who gathers every fragment, take what is beautiful and what is broken in us, and weave it into your mercy. Guide our feet on the path of this holy week, and let your peace grow strong within us. Amen.