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The clown came walking ever so slowly up the aisle, smiling. She looked around. She was holding a picnic basket. Her face was white, her hair was red, her suit was brightly striped, and her pointed hat was a shiny blue. Her mouth was painted, but it neither smiled nor frowned. It was a wondering kind of expression.

Rainbow walked up the aisle, up the steps, up toward the altar. She took a quick look at the congregation and slowly shrugged her shoulders. It was an exaggerated shrug with shoulders raised and held high. All was very quiet. She looked up at the enormous cross suspended above the altar. She walked backwards, away from the altar, until she was at the edge of the steps. She set her picnic basket down. From behind the altar she took a small table and put it by the basket - dead center on the ground in front of the altar. She took out a brightly colored feather duster and carefully, slowly, meticulously, stroked the table's surface. Clean! She turned to us and smiled.

Quietly and slowly, she opened her picnic basket and took out a bright red checkered table cloth. Rainbow shook it out and ever so carefully placed it on the small table. She took out two star--shaped crystal candle holders. She put them to her eyes and got a few laughs. She hid her face. All was quiet again in the large sanctuary.

Gently, she put the candle holders on the table, one at each end. Gingerly, she placed two red candles in them, assessing their placement all the while. She moved them an inch to the left, then a half inch to the right, then toward the middle a bit. Satisfied, she reached for some matches and tried to light them. They wouldn't light. Rainbow looked around and quietly walked through the congregation. She handed the matches to a gentleman, who quietly followed her and lit her candles. She smiled broadly and gave him a big hug. His cheeks seemed a shade brighter as he made his way back to the pew.

Rainbow went back to the basket. She put a ceramic urn at the back of the little table. It was about the size of her palm. She reached for a cross made of two twigs. Rainbow stepped back, looked up and considered the huge cross suspended above her, above the altar. She looked at the twigs. She held them up. She straightened the arms of the cross. She put the twigs in the urn. She looked up at the cross and smiled.

From the basket she took out a circle of vines. Her hand snapped back as she reached for it. Her face twisted in pain. She picked it up, only much more carefully and slowly. She lifted up the circle and looked at it. She looked around and shyly put the circle on her head. She winced in pain. She looked at it again, and her face was overcome with sadness. She looked up at the cross again. Her shoulders seemed to slump forward as she put the circle around the cross.

Rainbow took a step back and eyed the table. She looked around and then at the basket. From it she took a plate and put it in the center of the table. Then she lifted out a loaf of bread and a cloth. She put the bread on the plate and covered it with the cloth. Suddenly, she yanked the cloth off and looked at the loaf. She wrapped the bread in the cloth and held it like a baby in the crook of her arm. She bent down to give it a kiss. She cradled it and hugged it tightly. Gently, she set it on the plate and placed the cloth on top. The cloth seemed to caress the body of bread.

She stepped back, looked again at the cross on the altar. She paused, then reached for the twig cross in the small urn. She held the twig cross up but the circle started to slide. She lifted the cross again and the circle slid the other way. She grabbed the circle, but her hand sprang back quickly. Her mouth was twisted and her eyes were closed. She opened them again and held up the cross and the circle all at once. She picked up the bread and slid it in front of the cross, under the circle.

Rainbow stopped. She stuck out her lower lip as she looked away at the huge cross suspended above the altar. Her body twisted and she grasped the loaf of bread and tore it in half. Her eyes grew bigger and her mouth opened. Rainbow quickly put the bread halves on the plate and the cross back in the urn. The only sound in the church was the swish of Rainbow's shiny, striped coveralls.

Rainbow reached for a bottle from the basket. She lifted it up, then set it down on the table. She looked at the twig cross in the urn and pulled it from the urn. She rotated the cross on its side. She put the bottle at the end of the turned--down arm and held it there. Her body bent over a little also, as if the blood were draining out of her arm. Not a sound was heard.

She bent down to reach for a goblet and poured into it from the bottle. She lifted the goblet up and held it there for all to see. All 1,200 of us. She looked at us and smiled.

She put her basket behind the altar and reached for a box, wrapped in shiny white paper with a big bow on top. Rainbow lifted the lid and peered inside. She looked at the congregation and smiled a slow, big smile. She took out a sign that said, "For You." She placed it in front of the table, stepped back and looked at the table. She smiled at the congregation, picked up her picnic basket, and slowly walked out of the church. We were silent.

This was the beginning of Lent. The choir had sung a beautiful hymn, the lessons had been read, and the pastor moved us with a powerful sermon. We were ready to acknowledge our sinfulness and begin the passion journey. But we couldn't be ready until we received a gift at the altar, under the cross. Rainbow had interpreted for us the greatest gift of all: that of the blood and body of God's only son, Jesus, who died on the cross.