Before my husband Christian and I moved to the area, I was unfamiliar with the (only?) sanctioned in-church crafting project of folding Palm Sunday palm crosses. It was actually at Central Presbyterian where we first saw a young lady making one in her pew. Every church I’d been to before had passed out the palm fronds for festive waving, but that was where it ended. After looking at a few diagrams and even more YouTube videos, I was able to fold a cross, and I have continued to make them annually.
Last year, I added palm roses to my crosses and made extra. Two of my neighbors, raised Catholic, asked for one. Throughout the year, I would see the crosses in their homes. As the season approached this year, I looked forward to making and giving them out again. Reflecting on the meaning of this gift, I began to make an embroidered cross to give to my neighbor as well. I eagerly anticipated giving her both crosses to honor our shared faith.
Sharing also was part of Sunday school lesson on Palm Sunday. After Pastor Robin showed the kids how to make the crosses for Children’s Time, Heather Kennedy and I tried to share the skill of making crosses with the older children. Even though I’d practiced, and done a YouTube refresher, I couldn’t figure out how to demonstrate the technique. We all needed to help each other. After a lot of laughter, and some additional screen time, everyone had folded a cross, as well as made one for each of the younger kids. I hope it will be a nice memory for all of us, when we see our crosses in our homes, and I am already looking forward to next year.
© 2024 by Emily Rishel