Luke 23: 55-56

As the body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw it carried to the tomb. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to embalm him; but by the time they were finished it was the Sabbath, so they rested all that day as required by the Jewish law. (The Living Bible)

Lord, where are you now?

So there it is, the ugly shape of beautiful wood, rough hewn by human hands.

LORD, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

And there it is, a tight-shut tomb, a borrowed grave, sealed with stone and silence.

LORD, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

And there it is, your broken body, shrouded in linen, clothed in darkness.

LORD, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

And somewhere stand your people, crying though tired of crying, their eyes sore and bloodshot, they will not sleep tonight.

LORD, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

And out in the streets, the children have stopped their playing, the sound of music has gone sour, even the unlikely folk fidget and wonder.

LORD, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

And here we are, saying, ‘If only,’ murmuring, ‘Surely not,’ counting the cost for once of our carelessness and our lovelessness and our sin.

Trying so vainly to gain all, we’ve bartered you away in the transaction. We have lost the one who found us.

With the Peters and Marys of all time we wait, for only you can tell whether we are worth rising for. Amen

1998 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow, G51 3UU, Scotland