Sacred Saturday? Or life as usual...

Today is the Saturday between Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified, and Easter, when He was raised, the empty tomb discovered.

Ideally, this should be a day of reflection. The entire season from Ash Wednesday, really is a time of reflection. But none so much as today.

I say ideally because this year more than any other, the world has encroached on our Sacred Saturday. Because of our Passover Seder Service Thursday, and the plans for the Easter Sunrise Service (both of which are new this year), the Easter morning message is not yet done. In fact, I’m struggling with it. There is some pressure knowing that we will have a chance to reach visitors we don’t normally see. And I want to make our service as welcoming and meaningful for them as I can.

Yet, of all days, this happens to be the day selected for a ministry we are hoping to work with to hold their mandatory training program. My wife will take my place (what a blessing she is!). My daughter has a dance class and will need to be delivered. And we are leaving Monday morning for a vacation. Today is the day that we should be packing and getting all ready to go. Tomorrow (after services) will be spent with family, which means some additional preparation on some dishes we are taking for dinner.

So much to do on this day, yet I feel sad. Almost mournful. Is it Jesus? Am I mourning the death of my Savior, remembering the suffering he endured on my behalf? Or am I mourning the loss of a very special day – a Holy day in it’s own right? On this day that I should be very quiet, the world goes on, and I am very busy, and because of that, I feel that I am missing something very special.