There are hopes that have been dashed, fears for the future and the uncertainty of the unknown. There are memories of before, yearnings of what could have been. In the midst of waiting there is the stirring of a new thing.

We hear later in the gospels that many went back to their jobs, the securities they had been used to. Waited? But for what? So much of our waiting in uncertainty and grief often gets channelled into activity - so we can act like everything is normal and do our best to hide the pain. I wonder what each of Jesus’ friends and followers did on the day after his crucifixion, the day we now call Holy Saturday. They had risked everything because they had dared to believe Jesus was the answer to all their longings and barely-voiced hopes. They had put their livelihoods on the line, uprooted themselves, changed all their priorities because of what they saw in this man. All their hopes and expectations were invested in this carpenter from Nazareth. We do not know what is going to happen, nor can we control the outcome.įor the friends and followers of Jesus, his crucifixion turned their worlds upside down. None of us have been in a situation like this before. This is a peculiar kind of waiting, because there is so much uncertainty. Even just waiting in boredom as we stay at home. Waiting for the next time we can see our loved ones. Waiting for the next government guidelines on how we must live so that lives are protected. Waiting for the latest news of how the coronavirus is spreading.

Around the country, and in so many different parts of the world, people are waiting.

Holy saturday morning reflection