Waiting...

It is Holy Saturday... 

the in-between time,

the waiting time,

the time
when in the darkness
of a garden tomb,
a tiny seed of hope

quietly takes root

amidst the fear and despair of death:

the rooting seed 

holding the deepest yearnings of our hearts.

It is Holy Saturday...

and so we wait.

We wait for resurrection hope 

to burst forth from the tomb

and blossom 

and bloom

into the Tree of Life

under which we shelter

and where we are renewed.

It is Holy Saturday...

and we wait.

                                                      [Nikki Macdonald, April 2010]

John 19:38-42

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

God, Creator of heaven and earth:

Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb

and rested on this holy Sabbath,

so may we await with him the coming of the third day,

and rise with him to newness of life;

who now lives and reigns 

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

                                                                                                  [Book of Common Prayer]