Holy Saturday is a day for waiting, being patient, expressing sorrow, and lamenting. Christians have traditionally read from the book of Lamentations on this day. I think its worth remembering that even though Jesus had told his disciples plainly that he would be raised on the third day, it didn't seem to sink in. The disciples on the road to Emmaus said "We thought he was the one..." The cross was an end to those hopes. Here's another poem for Holy Saturday...Wendell Berry again (of course).What hard travail God does in death!
He strives in sleep, in our despair,
And all flesh shudders underneath
The nightmare of His sepulcher;
The earth shakes, grinding its deep stone;
All night the cold wind heaves and pries;
Creation strains sinew and bone
Against the dark door where he lies.
The stem bent, pent in seed, grows straight
And stands. Pain breaks in song. Surprising
The merely dead, graves fill with light
Like opened eyes. He rests in rising.
He strives in sleep, in our despair,
And all flesh shudders underneath
The nightmare of His sepulcher;
The earth shakes, grinding its deep stone;
All night the cold wind heaves and pries;
Creation strains sinew and bone
Against the dark door where he lies.
The stem bent, pent in seed, grows straight
And stands. Pain breaks in song. Surprising
The merely dead, graves fill with light
Like opened eyes. He rests in rising.
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