Slideshow image

LISTEN

“When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite thetomb.”—MATTHEW 27:57-61 (NRSVUE)

Reflect
While sitting in the pew, my tiny human turns to me and says (not so quietly), “The pastor keeps saying we are here to hear from God, so then why do they keep talking?!” As the women sit opposite of the tomb, they feel the silence of God. Can you imagine how it must have felt to be in the presence of Jesus—to feel the tenderness, love, and healing spirit he brought to the world. And then to sit in shock at the absence of that spirit. This is the day we reflect what the world looks like if we had no God. We are allowed to say: our God died. We can even say: the utter absence of God is more real to me sometimes than God’s presence. We never get to say these kinds of things out loud, but Holy Saturday shows us that we are still faithful. This Holy Saturday, take a moment to sit in silence. Because the good news is that God came back to those very women, the very next day. But if you have ever felt God’s absence, today’s silence is your truth.

Respond
Sit in silence for 5 minutes. Listen.

Blessing for when you are too tired to cry

Blessed are you, who feel undone,
too tired even for tears,
longing to be spoken back into being.

Blessed are you, who ache to remember
the bonds of love that formed you,
that hold you still, even now.

May they be as iron
that strengthen your soul.

Blessed are you,
who glimpse, however faintly,
that this present darkness
is not all there is.

And blessed are we who dare to say:
I am known.
I am loved.
I can love again.
Even—especially—here,
in this very moment.46

46 Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. Adapted from “For When You’re Too Tired To Cry” in The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. (New York: Convergent Books, 2023). 34-35.

© KateBowler.com