It’s Holy Saturday morning, mid-morning actually. My morning chores are done… the coffee is cooked, morning weigh-in completed, coffee and warm biscuit with jam consumed, morning devotions read, body stretched, bed made, breakfast shared, dishes cleaned, weather observed, snow cleared, work space set… and it’s time to write.
I’ve been sitting here a little longer than I intended, but I’m a bit distracted from the inside activities I have planned. I’ve been looking outside at the beautiful spring morning of Easter weekend. 25 degrees and a few inches of fresh snow, and all of the activity I tend to see on a daily basis outside my window. There has been a parade of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, cars on the road, hikers and bikers on the trail… all highly visible… lots of distractions…
… Then some unexpected Holy Saturday Parade guests …
A half dozen turkeys joined the parade! (by the time I got my camera out I only caught two for the picture). It’s not the first time they’ve hiked through, but they’re presence added to my distraction. But maybe distractions isn’t the word to focus on today…
Holy Saturday doesn’t get as much attention as its more publicized partners, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Here is a bit of what Evan Rosa of Biola University had to say about the day in my morning devotion: “I don’t know what happened on Holy Saturday. That day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is a controversial theological topic among Christians, owing to very limited references in the New Testament and conciliar documents.” He goes on to talk at length about his perspectives on the day and what it means to him. (If you are interested in more… http://ccca.biola.edu/lent/2018/#day-mar-31 )
But here’s what I think. I think Holy Saturday is wonderful day to think… a day to think and reflect about the significance of the original Good Friday, and the original Easter Sunday. But also, think about the significance of Good Friday, March 30, 2018 and of Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018. And don’t just think about the chores you will go through on those days inside your normal routines. Think about the distractions going on outside your routines. And maybe don’t think of them as distractions from what you have planned for the day, think of them as attractions to new adventures in the new life we have all been blessed with on these Holiest of days!
Enjoy your Holy Saturday, and have a Very Happy Easter!
Pastor Dan.
