I was reading a pastor of mine's blog this afternoon and he was talking about the role of the saturday between good friday and easter sunday. It's a day we don't give much thinking to during this holiday season - it's either a break between the busy days or just another 24 hours to pass by before getting to the important stuff. But what if we looked at this saturday with a little more importance. Dan writes...

Saturday is the lonely day of the Easter weekend. Good Friday has a purpose — we remember the death of Jesus. Easter Sunday has a purpose — we celebrate the resurrection hope of Jesus. What do we do in the in-between? The in-between is that season between betrayal and hope. It is the season of doubt, the season where we have been hit by the hurt of Friday but we don’t know if Sunday is coming.

Saturday is the season of choosing. It is the season where we will choose to hang on to Good Friday hurts or belly flop into Easter Hope.

Yeah I chose the words belly flop for a reason. If you really want to experience Easter hope you have to let go and dive in — but if you dive in, it’s going to leave a mark. Belly Flop into Easter. 

I wonder how often we forget to recognize the importance of those 'choosing moments' in our life. I know I for one am guilty of focusing on the points of purpose in life; the times which 'define' me and teach me something to better my life and the lives of others. But perhaps by focusing solely on the days of purpose (as we define as purposeful) we are missing out on the other days that god has specifically planned to be a part of the larger ride called life.

Would the Easter story really be any different if it had been prophesied and happened that Christ rose the following day? Perhaps there was a purpose for that in-between day that we were unaware of?

The in-between day, often referred to as Holy Saturday, is often described as a time of silence and suspense. It is bookended by two completely different feelings and emotions. Joan Chittister describes it this way...

Holy Saturday faith is not about counting our blessings; it is about dealing with darkness and growing in hope. Without the Holy Saturdays of life, none of us may ever really grow up spiritually…Today, alone and bereft, we come face-to-face with the question we try so hard to avoid the rest of the year: how do we deal with the God of darkness as well as the Giver of light? Have we been abandoned? Are we left on our own in this world? Is there nothing else?

We live in a world where we like black and white answers, darkness and light, despair and hope. But in order to get from one peak to another, we need to recognize the importance of that transition period and wrestle with the messy questions we often like to avoid. May we learn to recognize the Holy Saturdays of life more easily and take the time to reflect in silence on the necessary transitions in life.