Holy Saturday has always been for me a day of waiting patiently. A time of just sitting still, in anticipation of the resurrection experience that is to come. And a time of pondering the future in the light of Easter, the hope of a better future.
However, it is important that we don’t confuse ‘hope for a better future’ with a return to ‘business as usual’. Just as the resurrection event changed our world and our understanding of God, so too this pandemic has changed our world and our future.
In looking back over our responses to the pandemic, we will need to confront the issues that came to the forefront. In a sense, we need to move from social distancing to social reckoning. Shelter-at-home as a means of containment requires that we question our presuppositions, namely that home is safe and that all have homes. We will need to attend to those who risked all in service to others — when their post-traumatic stress begins. We must confront the cost of racism and xenophobia. We must see our socioeconomic inequities, that heightened risk for many, for what they are. And do something about it.
No, our Easter experience will not be ‘business as usual’.
And today, in its quiet stillness awaiting the opening of the tomb, is a good day to ponder just what our resurrected world will look like.