Tomorrow Feels Impossible

(from www.lifeandwork.org)

A reflection for Easter Saturday by the Rev Roddy Hamilton

Luke 23:50-56

There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Taking him down, he wrapped him in a linen shroud and placed him in a tomb chiselled into the rock, a tomb never yet used. It was the day before Sabbath, the Sabbath just about to begin.

The women who had been companions of Jesus from Galilee followed along. They saw the tomb where Jesus’ body was placed. Then they went back to prepare burial spices and perfumes. They rested quietly on the Sabbath, as commanded.

Reflection

It seems a long way to heaven from here.
Impossibly so.

Let us leave it there…

Prayer

How can anyone quietly rest
In this the darkest of days;
When the last breath has been taken
And we suffocate with hopelessness?

Heaven seems so far away now,
And in this emptiness
We place all that no longer matters:
The priorities we once thought important,
The stuff we gathered round us,
The fame and fortune that comforted us.

No longer.
Nothing has much worth now.
And tomorrow,
Feels impossible.

In such a place, O God,
Let us share your silence.

The Rev Roddy Hamilton is minister of New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Bearsden