Holy Saturday Keeps My Head out of the Sand

Holy Saturday tells us something about our desire to bury our heads in the sand. We know death and what it does.  If we follow Christ, we have faith that our resurrection is coming. But Holy Saturday represents this era - the era of 'in-between' death and resurrection.  It is the time of exile, of pilgrimage - the need to return 'home' and the journey towards a 'home' we've never seen. To believe in Jesus' death and resurrection requires faith, but it is a more unique and difficult faith to live in the tension of the 'in-between' and that tension is what we're living in right now.  

What do we do with unresolved tension?  We ignore it, deny it, look straight through it, anesthetize it, medicate it, store it in a box in the closet or build moats around our hearts of certainty and hope that it really isn't out there holding our city at siege.   The harder we fight to keep it out, the more creatively invasive it becomes until we are forced to wage an all out war on the "in-between."  When we realize we can't win, we can't run and we can't hide, we bury our heads in the sand and hope that it goes away. 

What if the "in-between" were our friend, our comrade, our ally, our tutor, our teacher, or our mentor?  Holy Saturday teaches us that it's okay - that our era of waiting yet wanting so much more is good.  It's part of the plan and the plan is good.  What do we do in the meantime?  We wait, we work, we give courage, we hope-monger and we pursue peace.  We rest in the exile as we pursue the peace of the city and we pilgrimage onward towards the Heavenly city.  

If Holy Saturday were to speak to us, she'd say, "Embrace the 'in-between' and for Christ's sake, keep your heads out of the sand."