The waiting...

Matthew 27:57-61

The Burial of Jesus

 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Waiting

So often the hardest part

We who are doers

are not so good at waiting

And even now,

though we know the outcome

and know that it is good

we still want it to be over.

We want the tomb

to be burst open

so that we can celebrate

and then get on

with the rest of living.

We are impatient to tidy away

the vestiges of the wilderness

the Palm branches

the temple clutter

the oil of pure nard

the foot washing paraphernalia 

and the black draped cross.

We want to release the Alleluias

from their exile,

reclaim the space taken up

by the Labyrinth or the prayer garden

and restore our sanctuaries

to their usual order.

But, thankfully,

THANKFULLY

Easter will not allow that.

For Easter changes everything.

Two thousand years ago and now.

Easter seeps in with the slow light of dawn

and changes everything it touches

until we give up trying

to restore order.

The much anticipated Easter dawn 

promises yet more havoc.

But, for now, we wait...