Holy Saturday

Today is the day of despair. Rumours of light fade into doubt.

Today is the day that the earth stands still. The cosmos holds its breath, not even waiting because there is nothing left for which to wait.
Today is the day when all our uncertainties and confusions come grinding to the surface. Everything is irredeemably broken.

Today is the day of hopelessness. We cannot move backward; the past only reminds us of our shame, punishing us with the guilt we cannot escape.

Today is the day the present has become unbearable. Each breath twists painfully in our chest. It is impossible to imagine putting one foot after another on this broken earth.

We cannot move forward; there is no forward to move toward. It is no longer possible to picture a future better than this barren present.

Today is the day we have no comfort to offer. We share only loss. Space opens around us. But this is not the space of freedom and hope; it is a dark vortex, sucking life into its emptiness.

Today we are paralysed. Our goals are gone; our dreams crumble like cracked earth at our blistered feet.

Today is the day we do not know what to do with ourselves. We do not know which way to turn. All we can see are our failures. All we know are the defeats with which we are too familiar. Today there is no faith, no trust, no confidence that there could be any help.

We cannot believe the sun came up this morning. It is impossible to imagine how our hearts keep beating. Death has had the final word.

Today everything is lost. We do not know how to begin to find our way out of this desperate place.

Today there are no road maps, no instruction manuals.

Today is the day we grope to find our way in the chaos, no longer believing there is any way to be found.