The space in between

Sitting in the space in between the sadness of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter Sunday, Easter Saturday always seems like a day in search of a purpose. Few churches mark it.

Easter weekend in the secular world is a time for short breaks, DIY projects and gardening. Traffic chaos on the roads here in the South West is a feature of this and every other bank holiday weekend. Our neighbour is busy building a patio. Gardens are being made ready for the arrival of bedding plants and the sowing of seeds. For those in full time work the long weekend is a wonderful opportunity to get on top of household jobs.

In all probability, it was much the same for Jesus' disciples on the first Easter Saturday. It was the Jewish Sabbath, a day for being with family and meeting with others of the faith but for non Jews it was just a normal day as it is for most in contemporary Britain. The disciples had scattered following Jesus' death and presumably most went home to keep the Sabbath. It must have been a crushingly difficult day.

However we pass the space between Good Friday and Easter Day we do so looking forward in hope. Tomorrow our churches will ring with alleluias as we proclaim the good news that "Christ is Risen!" Many will come to church on this day who rarely make it to other services. Some will have returned to family and will celebrate with them. It will be a joyous occasion.

An Easter Prayer

When everything was dark and it seemed that the sun would never shine again,

your love broke through.

Your love was too strong, too wide, too deep for death to hold.

The sparks cast by your love dance and spread and burst forth with resurrection light.

Gracious God, we praise you for the light of new life made possible through Jesus.
We praise you for the light of new life that shone on the first witnesses of resurrection.
We praise you for the light of new life that continues to shine in our hearts today.

We pray that the Easter light of life, hope and joy, will live in us each day;
and that we will be bearers of that light into the lives of others.

Amen.

(Revd Michaela Youngson, Superintendent Minister of the Ealing Trinity Circuit)