The Year-Round Mystery Posed by Christianity

I recently heard someone mention in my presence that a "Palm Sunday" occurs this time of the year.

The only image that came to mind for me was the idea of spending a spring Sunday in Miami, Florida, amid palm trees.

"It sounds relaxing, this idea of donning a bathing suit and sipping guava juice outdoors while relaxing under a palm tree in South Florida," I note to myself.

Another theory has since come to mind for me. Perhaps Palm Sunday is a day of the year when many Americans like to have the palm of their hand read or interpreted by a self-described psychic and professional palm-reader.

I myself am not superstitious, so I have no desire of my own to have the lines on the palm of my hand read or interpreted by anyone.

I have to keep in mind, in any event, that to millions of Christian Americans, Palm Sunday has nothing to do with sipping guava juice in Miami, Florida, or having the palm of one's hand read by a professional palm reader.

Some Christians might even regard me as heretical if I ever mention that Palm Sunday sounds like a day dedicated to savoring palm trees in Miami, Florida.

Because I fully respect and honor the Freedom of Religion legal and Constitutional rights of all Americans, I am very hopeful that some English-language book-publishing company will soon publish an alphabetically organized "Layman's Guide to Religious Terminology."

If I then purchase a factual-information book of that type and turn to the "P" section to find the term "Palm Sunday," I will be all the more polite in my reply when a Christian friend of mine asks me if I have any plans for Palm Sunday?