Sentences, like people,
need spaces to breathe.
Between the full stop
and the Capital
lies the pause.
Without the space,
sentences are breathless;
without the Sabbath,
life is restless;
without the pause,
the rest is lifeless.
Sentences, like God,
have a preferential option
for the pause.
I wrote those lines earlier this year and have been thinking ever since about their application to Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Day, which people often do not notice.
Good Friday could be seen as a full stop. It was the end. Easter Day could be seen as the Capital letter. It is raised upright for a new beginning. In between lies the hidden, seemingly insignificant, but essential pause, Holy Saturday.
Some people, in the way they live their lives as well as in Holy Week, can't cope with the sheer horror of Good Friday and focus on the joy of Easter Day. Others remain locked in the despair of the Friday and can't seem to make it to the Sunday. Most miss out on the 'holding grief' of Holy Saturday, when even God kept his Sabbath.
The Rt Revd Dr Graham Kings is Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely and Research Associate at the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide.