In truth of course, the experiences of our lives don’t move in linear fashion. Yes, we live one day after another, but our hearts, souls, and minds can live many days, many years, within the span of 24 hours. Past memories are alive in our present, and the future can lure us with joy or with dread.
Our faith works in much the same way, and never have we experienced that to be more so than this week. For our community, Good Friday happened the day before Palm Sunday. People were stabbed, one person to death, others in ways that have changed their lives forever. Your lives have changed too. Some of you witnessed the events, none of you remain untouched as this act of random violence occurred in the living room of your community.
We have since then been living in Holy Saturday, a little-remembered day between Good Friday and Easter. A day, metaphorically speaking, that can span any length of time, in which we hold our breath. In shock, in fear, in sorrow, we try to comprehend this shift in time, between ’not possible’ and indeed, ‘possible and in my neighbourhood’.
And, as it has for thousands of years, Easter beckons us forward. Trust in the Easter story leads us on.
The fullness of our faith lies in the fullness of this narrative, these three days. We invite you to worship with us Good Friday at 10:30, and Easter Sunday also at 10:30. And on Holy Saturday may you know that you are held in God’s embrace as you contemplate the truth of goodness and sorrow alive in our world, and the trust that love will never be overcome.