Holy Saturday Reflections

As you wake today, imagine what it might have been like to be a witness of Jesus' crucifixion–someone who was with him at the very end–and then to wake the next morning in a world without him. Did sleep come for you? What did you dream about, if you managed to sleep at all? What do you even begin to do with yourself? How do you start to process what it means that he is gone? What will it be like to walk by the Roman soldiers today?

It is easy for us, centuries later and across an ocean, to rush from the horror of the cross to the joy of the empty tomb. Today, Holy Saturday, is an invitation to sit in the space between death and resurrection as creation both mourns and holds her breath in anticipation.

Let us be a people who walk honestly and faithfully on the journey of life with Christ. Let us sit at Christ's graveside and enter into the silence of Saturday. Let us pour out our hearts to God as we live in a broken world where much is far from well. This Holy Saturday, I wonder–

Where are you feeling the weight of a loss– a person, a dream, a home, or a job? Where are you tired of waiting for goodness to come and God to move? Where are you angry and crying out, "How long, God"? Where are you experiencing God as silent?

As we're able, let's carve out some minutes today to linger in Holy Saturday, even if it's just a couple of minutes before sleep comes tonight. Below are a few ideas for reflection today. You can choose one that seems to fit with where you find yourself or perhaps these will inspire another way to meet with Christ.

1. Take some time to notice if any of the questions above resonate with your spirit or circumstances. Perhaps journal a response to one of the questions or write your own prayer of lament, putting words to whatever anger, ambivalence and/or grief you have in God's presence. Perhaps do some artwork responding to one of the reflection questions above.
2. Read Luke 24:13-35, slowly two times and out loud, if possible. Try to picture the scene in your mind as you read. Notice if you are drawn to put yourself in the shoes of one of the people in this scene– what would it have been like to be there? Is there anything you want to say to God in response to this passage?
3. Go on a walk or sit somewhere peaceful and sit in silence with Christ, simply cultivating an awareness of God's presence with you, not needing to say anything.

I will leave you with a poem I wrote on Holy Saturday a few years ago. See you Sunday, saints.

The air is still,

heavy with the weight of 

expectations shattered

and dreams crushed.

He's gone, really gone.

We could taste and see

the coming triumph

and freedom, but now

we sit drenched in 

disillusionment and heartache.

Nothing is as it should be,

like he said it would be.

Now there is

no going back

and no way forward. 

As we lay our 

pounding heads down on

the pillow soaked with tears,

a whisper cuts through

the silence. 

“Now is agonizing, and

now is not the end of the story.

Yes, my absence is palpable,

and trust me, I will return

and remake it all.

A bright day will come, 

unspeakably beautiful. 

All who mourn and wait

in darkness

will finally wake 

and find themselves

radiant in love,

gazing into the eyes 

of the wild and glorious One

who defeats every death.”

with you on the journey,

Pastor Hannah