- Read one verse of 'In a byre near Bethlehem' (Wild Goose Publications) each day and reflect on the Refrain. Available in many hymn books and also on the web (https://www.wildgoose.scot/resources/selected-lyrics)
- What, if any, effect might the Fun Day have had for Jesus, his followers and the Jewish Authorities, not so much in changing events but in their perception of what was happening? How might it also affect our perception of Lent?
- Is the response of Jesus to the Jews (Luke 19: 39-40) a cry of triumphalism or a confession of frustration?
- Choose your role: member of the crowd, disciple, Pharisee, Jesus. Re-live one day from this week from their standpoint, exploring your emotions as it went along; tell a friend, describe it in a letter or plan an act of worship. Which hymns, songs, readings or personal experiences come to mind? Is the result laughter or tears, joy or angst?
- Find other situations where Jesus came (and continues to come) as 'a harlequin to touch our jaded consciousness' (Harvey Cox)
- Thinking of the 'nails in his coffin' (Day 4) call to mind one or two contemporary situations, real or in fiction, where an individual or a community finds itself facing similar treatment. What might the experience of Jesus have said to them, and how does their experience enlighten our understanding of the crisis?
Further Reading
Harvey Cox, Feast of Fools, Harper Colophon,1970.
Trevor Dennis, Speaking of God, SPCK, London, 1992.
Norman Habel, Interrobang, Lutterworth, Guildford, 1969.
Karl-Josef Kuschel, Laughter. A Theological Essay, SCM, London, 1994.
Harry Williams, Tensions, Fount, 1989.