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Holy Saturday

From Rachel Matthews -

Today I have been chopping, measuring, mixing, cooking, mixing some more, kneading, baking, waiting, waiting, tasting, arranging, cleaning, preparing.....and preparing....for guests.

It is what you do at a funeral.

Either you are preparing to serve and comfort the bereaved or, as the bereaved, you are preparing to receive the community, the family, the loved ones to walk with you to the grave and back again.

Holy Saturday feels like the days before a funeral.

Suspended between death and life, you just carry on. You work, as usual, but not. That's what the women who loved the Rabbi were doing: preparing the spices, arranging the body (Christ's body), wrapping, loving and weeping, and waiting, and waiting and preparing....for guests. I am giddy thinking about the surprise that awaited them - the Guest!!

And, I am giddy waiting for our guests to come to our home. My boys won't be here, so there is grief. I miss them so much. But, the new American committee will be here. And, there will be so much more - joy will be here, communion will be here. I am waiting! And, I am ready to give up the solitude and the contemplation and the sorrow of the Lenten journey. And, I am ready to receive the forgiveness, faith, hope and love that will awaits us in the morning.

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