Holy Saturday Prayer

Holy Saturday Prayer, 2017

Now what, dear God?

Now what?

Pilate has retreated to his palace.

The soldiers to their barracks, except for a few:

Guards at the tomb.

Sealed with a stone.

Where they buried my LORD.

Yes, my LORD; that’s what I said.

Can it get any worse?

My LORD, I said.

My LORD: I cried.

It’s what I believed.

It was my hope.

He was my prayer.

So, there they stand.

In their rough and ready gear.

Hardened soldiers in a troubled land:

Palestine. Filled with fear.

There they stand, relaxed, mostly.

They have a job to do.

They’re ready for it.

They can handle it.

These soldiers do their duty.

A thousand days before, and more to come, they know.

They’ve killed plenty along the way, and they know they’ll kill again.

They know how to do it, swift and hard. These Palestinians are nothing.

It’s been a long night for them.

Chilly and damp. 

They’re tired. Me, too, O God.

My heart reeks with weariness.

Now what, dear God?

Now what?

Holy Saturday

It's Holy Saturday ... I read a book about this some years back.
Don't remember much of it, but the idea of waiting.
What will happen, if anything?

For the disciples, it was all over.
It was finished.
I mean, finished.

No one expected anything but death.
Death is like that, I guess.
It's the final word for us.

It's the final word for Jesus, too.
Tomb.
Stone.

I think It's Holy Saturday only in retrospect.
So the in-between time is hallowed.

Death holds on.
Even death is given its day.
For awhile, so the story goes.

But that's tomorrow.
Today, I'll wait.

Lenten Devotional Psalm 118

From my good friend and colleague, Bob Orr, who wrote this devotional ...

Theme: Passion and Suffering	Palm Sunday, March 29
Scripture: Psalm 118 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;    his steadfast love endures for ever! Let Israel say,    'His steadfast love endures for ever.' Let the house of Aaron say,    'His steadfast love endures for ever.' Let those who fear the Lord say,    'His steadfast love endures for ever.'  Out of my distress I called on the Lord;    the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. With the Lord on my side I do not fear.    What can mortals do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me;    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord    than to put confidence in mortals. It is better to take refuge in the Lord    than to put confidence in princes. All nations surrounded me;    in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;    in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees;    they blazed like a fire of thorns;    in the name of the Lord I cut them off! I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,    but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my might;    he has become my salvation. There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: 'The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;    the right hand of the Lord is exalted;    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.' I shall not die, but I shall live,    and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has punished me severely,    but he did not give me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness,    that I may enter through them    and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord;    the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me    and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected    has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing;    it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made;    let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!    O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.    We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God,    and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches,    up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;    you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,    for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Devotion Let's be clear at the outset. This psalm/song comes to us in the Christian faith from our brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith. We owe them a debt which can only be repaid with daily gratitude. They lived and loved and followed our common God in ancient times centuries before Jesus, a Jew, was born in Bethlehem. This is one of a hundred and fifty poems which enrich our lives even as they surely did his. I urge you to read this Psalm slowly aloud and think why it was first sung. What did it represent to men and women of faith? Why was it important? What themes or ideas did the writer want to convey? What melody lifted these words to God? In my wife's family, there is a dear cousin who is schizophrenic. He has been in and out of institutions, group homes and hospitals for thirty years. He's fifty-six and was diagnosed with lung cancer last August. His mother wrote that she heard him quietly singing "Jesus Loves Me" in his bed a few weeks before he died in January. Now re-read this Psalm. Jesus may have quietly sung this song when he entered Jerusalem for Passover that last week of his life, or when he hung on the cross and died. "O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever."
Prayer Lord of life, we turn to you and remember that some things are worth dying for. And living for. Amen.
About the Author Bob Orr has been helped to pray the Psalms by visiting a community of Catholic Trappist monks in Kentucky where at seven services throughout the day they have sung or recited the Psalms, every day, seven days a week, month in and month out, for over one hundred fifty years.

Death and Lent

Lent is a time to
remember the suffering
of Jesus.

Did he shake his head now and then?
That folks could be so mean?
So frightened?

That folks would out-and-out
lie?
And bend and twist to please Rome?

Did he ever wonder if it was
worth it?
Worth the effort?

I think he was afraid at times.
Afraid of failing.
Afraid of what might come.

Death can't win, is the story.
But death ain't no fool.
It has its ways.

For a time, it won.
And the good folks who love death
were proud of themselves.

And rolled a big ol' stone
over the hole in the ground.
Just in case.

Death can never be too sure
about such things.
No chances taken.

Death is like that.
Oh, but Donne said it well.
"Death, be not proud."

Lent Ain't Easy

It's the First Sunday of Lent.
A spring-time season.
Days grow longer.
They lencten.

More light than darkness
To transform the earth.
Hard to break the hold of winter.
To grow up and out some new life.

For me, the strangeness of Lent:
How hard it is for God to make it.
To break the hold of winter in the soul of humankind.
To bring out new life from what death has claimed.

It's not easy for God.
It's hard, terribly hard.
God is great, but not super-God.
Only by cradle, only by cross.

With sweat, blood and tears.
Hunger and thirst.
Weariness of soul and body.
Will the light grow stronger.

The Retirement Road - OMG, Lent Around the Corner

This week, Ash Wednesday - OMG … it snuck up on me, but this time, after 43 Ash Wednesdays as a pastor, I'm retired, and haven't planned a damn thing - hee hee …

I love it, and I'm glad to be free of those many burdens of
planning and study and
reflection and trying to be creative and
clever and thoughtful and humble and profound,
and focused on God and socially relevant - all at the same time.

In church yesterday (after missing the preceding two Sundays when we were in Phoenix with family and friends), I realized that Lent was upon us.

Lent is an important part of the church's annual journey … and an important one for me, too.

Yes, I don't have to do the planning this year - what a relief!

But I'll be in church on Ash Wednesday for the imposition of Ashes.

What Is Lent?

Lent isn’t supposed to be easy, but who said life is easy anyway? 

Nor should Lent be silly, like giving up chocolate for a few weeks, or broccoli – talk about triviality. 

What is Lent? 

It’s a time to think deeply about Jesus, and why he said what he said and did what he did, and why some folks thought they’d be better off if he were dead. Lent isn’t for sissies, but then neither is life. 

Lent is for deep thinking and quiet pondering and soul-searching and a time to say, “I’m sorry”-  to God, to the world, to family and friends – to creatures great and small, and to the farthest star, for whatever pain or sorrow or hurt or shame or sadness or distress or stupidity we’ve brought to our world. 

It’s the sheer honesty of Lent that makes Lent so important, and behind all of Lent, woven into it like a golden thread, the safety of God for those who are honest. “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Honesty and safety – powerful elements in our journey through Lent!