Freewrite time again! Today, I'm using one of @mariannewest's recent prompts from the weekend. The prompt word I’m going with is palm.
Right – the timer’s on, and it’s time to type! Palm. I’m thinking of palm trees … trimmings of palm … branches laid out before the feet of an honoured guest. Now I’m envisioning a story that I remember hearing during a sermon at Mass when I was in a child. Jesus entering a town, with palm fronds laid out before him on the path. A story that is commemorated every Palm Sunday, I think – but don’t quote me on that. I haven’t been to Mass in many years, so I couldn’t tell you which story this is, or what passage it occupies in the Bible … in time-honoured freewrite style, this story is a random memory that has leapt to mind, so I’m going to run with it!
It’s causing me to mull on the theme of hospitality.
Welcome.
Veneration.
How to honour a guest, in the most simple and heartfelt way you can, using whatever means are available to you.
The image of the simple dirt path stands out to me. Villagers simply doing whatever they could, to welcome someone whom they believed could understand and empathise with them in a way that the political authority figures of their time could not…
That sincere impulse from the villagers – that idea has stirred something in my heart. I’ll let that little gem of inspiration influence my writing over the next while, and see what emerges from it. ❤️