Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

On Palm Sunday 2017 I was in the chapel at Carisbrooke Castle built in  recognition of Charles I and veterans. I  was reminded of other features of the early Palm Sunday by palms in the nearby garden and a donkey easily coaxed into walking a treadmill that provided water from a well years ago. The gospels illustrate parallels between the everyday life and one full of spiritual significance. We can find many lessons about humanity that make the Palm Sunday story so relevant. For me, the palms and the donkey were mostly cues to remember the day. Of course, my Christian heritage provided a connection that others might not make. But the stories of Jesus and Charles I remind me of the religious component in the speeches and violent acts of people whose loyalties are often tested in extreme ways. People have the capacity to draw on faith to celebrate both peace and war. Disagreements among the religious still lead to death and destruction.  Fair trials are ...

DOES YOUR SPIRITUALITY MAKE SENSE? Religion & Spirituality | Meaning | Why? |  Psychology of Palm Sunday Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus of Nazareth went public as a king. It was the first Palm Sunday. The crowd of supporters cheered as he rode into Jerusalem.  They honored him as a king ought to be honored with palm fronds and clothes before him and sang part of an old psalm (118). And the Jewish people welcomed him with expectations of salvation from Roman oppression. But what they got a week later didn't match their expectations. It didn't make sense. Jesus never does. New religious movements pose threats to established religions. People identified as kings or leaders pose threats to national leaders. Then as now; people in power use their power to quash minority movements by attacking their leaders. Then as now; religious leaders join with political leaders in a combined effort to maintain their way of life. The words of Jesus were taken as a threat ...

Psychology of Leadership, Spirituality, and a Palm Sunday Journey As Christians celebrate the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, I take a look at perceptions of leadership then and now. You can find the Gospel story in Matthew 21: 1-11 . After procuring a donkey, Jesus rode into Jerusalem. A crowd placed their clothes and newly cut tree branches (possibly palm branches) on the road. These actions, and the words shouted by the people, link Jesus to the beloved warrior king David. And the Hosanna exclamation embodied both praise and hopes of salvation. But the writer knows what happens next and quotes an old prophet (Zechariah 9:9) who described the king as gentle . This king was not the warrior on a charging horse. Then as now, people have expectations of their leaders. Established leaders are wary, if not paranoid, of potential challengers and would be assassins. Humility and gentleness are not on the short list of successful leadership traits. Not t...