Saturday, April 7, 2007 (*Holy Saturday*)

*Just one verse, consider it:* Luke 23:56

Holy Saturday. That’s what we call this day in Lent. Holy Saturday. It’s
an almost cheerful name for what was certainly the darkest day in
history. While I imagine the women who performed the loving duty of
laying the body of Jesus in the tomb might have described it as a holy
act, they have also just had everything holy in their lives shattered.
Just last night, we (along with those women) gazed on Jesus as he
suffered a gruesome death. This long forty-day journey of Lent that we
have been walking together seems to have ended in crucifixion. Like a
brutal “period” at the end of a dark sentence.

I remember the dark fog that settled over my own life in the days
following my mom’s premature death. Grief is like that. No matter what
the weather is like, it feels dark and hazy. In addition to losing their
beloved teacher and healer, these women have lost the incredible,
indescribable hope that he brought to them. At least they think they
have. So they do the only thing they know how to do at such a time.
Tenderly, lovingly, they prepare Jesus’ body for burial and lay him to
rest. Notice how God still cares for them. Grief is exhausting, so God
gives them Sabbath rest.

Still, we are aware of something that these women were not as they
performed their duty. They think the journey is done. We know it is not.
We know that death’s dark “period”, which seems so final, is not the end
of the story. Even now, we know there is an exclamation mark still to
come, one which brings an end to death. And this one, in so many
beautiful ways, is just the beginning.

Holy Saturday. It’s dark today, yes. But soon comes the dawn.

/“Ah, Holy Jesus, your sacrifice was for my sake and for the sake of
everyone I know. That you could love us so much is beyond words to
describe. We can only offer our humble and grateful thanks and live in
the joy of knowing that love. Amen.”/

Eric O. Strom, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

(40 hours of prayer continues through this evening)

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*Easter Sunday*

*He is Risen!*

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*He is Risen Indeed!*