“Early,” “on the first day of the week,” “while it was still dark”—the images of the early dawn, the empty tomb, the Resurrection tumble over in my mind. I can’t get them on paper fast enough to capture the ecstatic feelings they bring to mind of all the resurrections that God has brought about in my life.

The passion of Good Friday comes to all of us over and over again in the agony of the various losses we each experience in our lives. Betrayal, failure, divorce, job loss, ruptured family relationships, illnesses, you name it, they all feel like death when we meet them face-to-face. The pain is intolerable! We go through denial, anger bargaining, as we try to cope with the loss, the death of life as we knew it. We put one foot in front of the other, going through the motions of life, until eventually we get to the acceptance of what is. Holy Saturday symbolizes that stage in our grief for me. We prepare the spices needed for burial so we can begin to get on with life, but the darkness is still heavy around us. Hope may hover on the periphery, but we can’t quite yet grasp hold of the reality of it. Then when we least expect it, there is the tiniest glimmer of light in our darkness. We get the first glimpse of resurrection, of the possibility of new life opening before us. The stone is rolled away; the tomb is empty! It is the first day of the rest of our lives, full of joy and delight. No matter how often we may experience it, we are awed each time, amazed at God’s resurrecting love at work in the dismal tombs of our lives. That is the good news of the Easter story; God is faithful, thanks be to God!

Alleluia! “This it the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Alleluia! “On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Alleluia!