Palm Sunday is traditionally a celebration of the life of Jesus and can also be a celebration of the Christ nature of each of us.

The story in Chapter 21 of the Gospel of Matthew says Jesus told the disciples where to find a donkey and her colt, and he asked them to bring the colt to him. He would ride into Jerusalem where followers had gathered, not on a fine horse like the Roman soldiers, or even on a trusted and trained donkey, but on an untried colt. What an odd choice!

Jesus gets our attention with unorthodox teachings and strange metaphors. If the colt represents our collective unbridled, untried, and impulsive humanity, the story seems to communicate that we are still worthy to “carry the Christ.” We do not carry our Christ nature on our backs, as the colt carried Jesus in the story, but we carry the Christ as part of our essential nature. Humanity has been imbued with a spiritual faculty to work with our reflective intelligence, and it is all part of the perfect design.

We may be fearful, much like a little colt, that we are not up to the task of carrying this Christ nature, that we will make mistakes and not always respond to outer conditions in the best way. We may not always see ourselves as worthy to be a part of Palm Sunday’s celebration of the wisdom and power of Jesus and our own Christ nature.

We do not carry our Christ nature on our backs, as the colt carried Jesus in the story, but we carry the Christ as part of our essential nature.

To see the splendor in our worth and the truth of our being, just as we are, is the journey of Lent. Along the way, we patiently notice fears, doubts, and the many ways we constrict the power and beauty that we are.

As we observe these thoughts of unworthiness, instead of dwelling on times we stumbled, we remind ourselves of the truth of our being. We keep our thoughts on our power to learn from our experiences without being defined by or tied to the past. We release fears and doubts without giving them power any longer.

“Hosanna” is the joyful acknowledgment that error thought is overcome through our Christ nature. We remember that Jesus chose the untried colt so long ago, and we affirm that every one of us is called today to celebrate our worth, our Christ nature, and all that we bring to the world.


This article first appeared in the booklet Release and Renew 2022: A Spiritual Practice for Lent.

About the Author

Rev. Joy Wyler, J.D. (1955-2022), was a writer and teacher who served 11 years as minister at Unity of Lehigh Valley in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and also served on the Unity World Headquarters Board of Directors.

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