To all who read this blog: It has been too long. My sincere apologies. This poem/writing/prayer has brought me comfort this week and I wanted to add it to the blog. Perhaps I’ll get back to writing…
There’s a hole in Holy Week this year by Rev. Monique McBride
And with every news report and diagnosis, the hole gets bigger
And into it tumbles every palm processional, Maundy Thursday service
Egg hunt, and Hallelujah Chorus planned for next week.
And I can’t help but feel empty
Not good empty like empty tomb empty
But, empty empty
Empty, and unsure just how to celebrate
The holiest week of the year
Just how to celebrate an empty tomb
In the reality of empty worship spaces
And, I know, the church is not a building
And the church is not a steeple
But, still, I’m sad
And I need to claim that
And I need to sit in this empty-feeling space
Where people are dying and stressed and fearful
And so much has gone wrong
And though I know that Sunday is coming,
And I will in good faith
And in God’s time
I will find my Hosannas and Hallelujahs
Right now
My soul needs to wait in the darkness
And be still in faith
And grieve
Knowing at the right time,
God will lead us
With light and fire
To Canaan
And to resurrection
Knowing
That while we sit and wait,
God sits with us
On our mourning bench
As Jesus did in the garden
And on the cross
And cries with us
In a space
And a stillness
Where no words
Only presence
Can bring healing
And through tears
God’s tears
And ours
I know
As I sit at the foot of the cross
Healing will come
Resurrection will happen
And this hole
Will transform
Into wholeness
And Holy Week
Whether this one
Or the one we’ll celebrate
When we all fill the worship spaces again
Will be more meaningful
And more life giving
Than any Easter we’ve known
So, for now
I will sit here in the darkness
And wait for the light to break in
Knowing
In faith
That God will
In God’s time
Whenever that might be
Fill this hole in Holy Week
With more love than I could ever imagine.
Amen
