the silence of Holy Saturday

 

 

There are times when everything seems so quiet. The kind of quiet that you notice. No music, no buzz of the computer, no sound of airplanes overhead – the kind of quiet that can feel unsettling. We are so accustomed to noise that we live much of our lives oblivious to how it surrounds us. Only when some of this noise is removed do we notice a difference.

And then there is the quiet Holy Saturday. The quiet that has nothing to do with noise around us. This day is about silence. The absence of a certain noise; the beating of a heart, the sound of the breath – an absence that suspends time. On this day everything is longed for. There is no surprise to the silence but instead a keen recognition of all that is missing.

Like the gray noise of the TV station off the air, we know we are in between. Between what has been and what is to come.

For many this Saturday is a time for preparation. Like being called on to stay alert and ready, we bustle about knowing that the sun will rise on Sunday to a new understanding. A grand announcement – that death was not the end, that life once again fills the air. Yet no matter how busy one seems preparing for the next sunrise… the fact remains, this day – this Saturday’s silence creates a void that cannot be filled.

Holy Saturday is a hard day. Holy Saturday is an important day. In the absence of a beating heart, our own hearts move in time. Not our time but God’s time. This day cannot be rushed.

It can only be lived.

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Present to each moment – Thursday’s door

 

The light shifts from warm to cool.
Standing before an open doorway, we know the choice has been made and made again.
Can any one prepare for what a day might bring?
Maybe but it is always challenging to plan for how it will feel and the consequences at the day’s end.
May we walk this day present to each moment.

 


Door of the day… Takachiho Gorge, Japan (Pinterest)

Ascension – a new perspective on this holy day

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He’s 110 feet tall and has hands 20 feet long. He weighs over 750lbs and is filled with 258,000 cubic feet of air. It took 13 weeks to sew him together.And he’s quite simply the biggest Gadget for God known to man.
Jesus the Hot Air Balloon is based in Tracy, California, and is the latest evangelistic balloon project of The Merritt Ministry. The biggest challenge they faced was theological, it seems: “How do you create a hot air balloon that is both authentic and reverent in its mission of creating Jesus, the Son of God?” Er, quite. The answer? “Jesus, in a majestic purple robe, trimmed in gold, rising above a base of white clouds, in all power and majesty as is presented in the book of Revelation.” Right…
The balloon, which bears the slogan “King of kings, Lord of Lords” across the back of Jesus’s robe, is currently touring the United States. 1000 blessings to Renee Beihl from Colorado for alerting us to this gadget on a grand scale.


Thank you, Michelle Meech

Article: lShip of Fools

Grateful for the dark


Darkness deserves gratitude.
It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand
that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.
JOAN CHITTISTER

And so…  in the darkness seeds safely wait for their time. In the darkness nightmares are experienced and freedom can be gained. 

Time may seem to slow where light is scarce but most new life requires the somber silence of deep night. 

This passing night bears witness to the ultimate miracle as we witness the birth of new life. New life appearing from the hold of death’s darkness. 

As dawn begins to raise her light on the distant horizon be prepared for life changing moments – where our greatest dream might swirl in the chaos of disbelief. 

Already awake and prepared to face death’s horror, the women wait for the first sign of dawn. They will follow the path to the tomb that has quietly held the body of their beloved – of God’s beloved. If there was any hint of gratitude in their hearts it may have come as they watched the last moments of their Sabbath pass. Gratitude may have sparked as they heard the first note of the morning bird’s song. 

How could they have been any more prepared? Arriving to offer their cleansing love, the darkest of night has rolled away leaving the soft light of morning to proclaim new life. 

His is risen. The Alleluia moment has arrived. Darkness did not win. No- it only served as an incubator for within it life was being reclaimed. 

The women’s duty had been redirected. They had witnessed an empty tomb and heard the Angels proclaim that He had risen. Life has overcome death and God’s good news would be spread throughout the world.  

The moment has arrived! The first notes of the morning bird proclaims this news. Christ has risen. The news will spread quickly and soon all of creation will be filled with the song of Alleluia. 

Welcome happy morning!!

(photo and quote from Network of Grateful Living)

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