Saturday - The Space Between

I can say with all honesty that Easter has always been one of my favorite times of year.  Some years it actually falls on my birthday as it does this year.  As a child Easter was a time of celebration not celebrating the risen Lord but a celebration of spring. Spring, the Easter bunny, dyeing eggs, my birthday, ham dinner, hot cross buns, new dress, new shoes & socks, new purse were all things I looked forward at Easter time when I was growing up.  Easter was the one Sunday out of the year that I was taken to church by my Grandmother.  So Easter was a special time of year for me.

It was not until I became a Christian that Easter took on a whole new meaning to me.  For the first time I began to realize the significance of Easter.  What Jesus' death, burial & resurrection means to us as Christians.  As the years began to unfold, each year we would study more and more about this Holy week and all that went along with it.  I was an open vessel and soaked up all I could. This year I was challenged to really study and think about each day of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. So began Holy Week
April 2012.

I have blogged previously this week about some of the rest of Holy Week but today find my thoughts on Holy Saturday the day between - The Space Between.  The silence of God. A time to pause, to breathe.  It is a day of silence,emptiness and loneliness. A difficult day, an uncomfortable day but a very necessary day.
The disciples hiding, alone, their minds filled with images of the previous day.  The trial, the beating, crown of thorns, the pain inflicted, the half dead man forced to carry his cross, the long trek to Calvary with the screaming throngs.  Some had watched as they nailed Jesus to the cross, put the nails in his hands & feet. Watch as his torn body is thrust erect and the cross is placed in the ground. Images of Jesus dying, the day being as night, the earth's moaning, the sights & sounds they will never forget.  Jesus as he says 'It is Finished' and then breathed his last earthly breath.  Removing Jesus from the cross, the tomb, the sealing of the tomb by the Roman soldiers the disciples were reeling with images and emotions, emotions and images.

Emptiness and quiet replace the screaming throngs, the pain, the noise the confusion of Friday.  All is silent - silent while they - silent while we - have time to breathe - time to absorb.  The living God has been with them and now the living God is silent.  Uncomfortable - uneasy the shock of death - the questions 'What next?' -'Where do we go from here?'  Silence, quiet we wait, we prepare ourselves with prayer.  Void, darkness, doubt, uncertainty and fear, all this must be felt before we can see the light and love of the 'Risen Lord'.

I know that I have spent many Easter seasons rushing headlong to the resurrection not stopping to understand, to experience, the place between.  The space between the starkness of Friday and the reality of  Saturday.  We must know the weight of loss and the promise of new life, and as dawn approaches we must let it enter into the 'space' carved out by loss.  After the events of yesterday, it is hard to believe we will know joy again.

In our life's journey we all those times of -"The Space Between", the void between.  I am learning to embrace the "Space Between", as it prepares me for the time of "Resurrection".  Blessings to you today and tomorrow as you celebrate our "Risen Lord".  May you ponder and remember the "Space Between".