This week’s blog comes from Julie Stokes!
It will soon be Easter Saturday, and for many of us that means breaking our Lenten fasts (well done) and (even if we haven’t fasted) celebrating the miracle of the resurrection with friends and family. This is the most amazing moment in the history of the Christian faith, and everyone loves Easter time as it speaks of power, life and hope.
But what. I ask myself, is the significance of Easter Saturday? I know Jesus dies for me on Good Friday, and I trust and wait for the resurrection/miracles promised on Sunday, but what of that middle Saturday when nothing seemed to be happening? To me the Saturday is an uncomfortable day to be in, and I have found myself there many times in my life (and for much longer periods of time than a day!). In those times I live life with a mixture of faith, despair and many answered questions. I can only imagine what was going on in the room where the disciples were hiding after the crucifixion, fearing for their own lives and bewildered by the previous days’ events, not too sure about Jesus’ promise to rise.
We can experience a ‘silence’ from God when our prayers seem t be bouncing off the ceiling. Martin Luther once aid that God falls into silence in order to “draw us into deeper relationship with Him that is only possible when we move beyond merely outward experiences and purely rational understanding...”
We have a family motto (one of many) that reminds us that we have a choice when life throws us a curve ball or we are faced with difficult circumstances. We can allow things to make us either “bitter or better”. It’s this choice that shapes us.
So what can we do when God is silent? Firstly we can look back and remember the times when God has spoken to us. Sometimes food can be tasteless to us, but it still nourishes us so we still eat to stay strong and we wait for the flavour, the taste and the enjoyment of food to return. Which it will. Secondly we can also look around and experience God in other places and people.
Sometimes it is in our family, friendships and community where we can experience God’s presence. Some years ago I was especially grateful to my close friends, family and Well community for just being there when I was feeling spiritually and emotionally numb. It seemed was just going through the motions but it was through their care, gentleness and encouragement that I knew God was still there for me.
So let’s remember that silence does not mean absence. Easter Sunday follows ‘silent Saturday’.