You all care about Emily, and not about Latin, so I'll get to the point. Many people misplace the commandment part of Maundy Thursday. They think that the commandment is the one from the Last Supper where Jesus offers his disciples bread and wine as representatives of his soon to be broken body, and tells his disciples to do this in remembrance of him until he should see them again in final victory. The Eucharist is indeed central to this day, as is the remembrance that Jesus' body will inevitably be broken on the following day, but I'm sitting with Emily, and her body is broken, and frankly the connection is a little too clear today.
So, instead I offer you this thought on this Holy Thursday. Christ commanded his disciples to love one another as he loved them. He knew that his time was short and he wanted this central premise - this habit of grace and mercy - this love that marked his whole nature and purpose, to continue through those who remained. He emptied himself of his power, and with a basin and towel entered into our dirt. All of you that have been supporting us have been following this model, this commandment and we are grateful. You have loved us as Christ himself might, and we want you to know that it means the world to us.
Emily is about the same strength as yesterday. She is going to have a different feeding tube placed in her stomach in a few hours, and we await further progress. Her nerve test revealed that the damage to her nerves appears to be much more extensive than they originally thought it would be, and so it looks like we'll be working at this for months rather than weeks. We will continue to rely on all of your prayers and support as we try to figure out what a new normal might look like, and we want you to know that we are humbled by the way you all have loved us throughout all of this.
