Job 14:14 "If mortals die, will they live again?" It's a common question when confronted with our own death or that of beloved family and friends. Amidst the passion narrative detailing the events between Jesus crucifixion and resurrection is Saturday. A day of grief. We know the answer to the question. We have stood in many cemeteries, placed flowers, traced the letters in ancient stones. Saturday was a day of grief and final preparations. And they, the women, would return on Sunday to wrap the body, and anoint it with spices.

Michael and Judy wrapped our Japanese Maples in preparation for the hard freeze these last two nights. I watched. And thought how much their wrapping was an act of care, in similar manner that the women were preparing so long ago to wrap Jesus. 

After a year of Covid distancing, how much we long to wrap, embrace, care for friends and family. When I prayed for the sick, I would ask if it was okay if we held hands. There was power in the touch, in illness, in despair, in worry, in grief. More than any words we would say, we were wrapped in compassion. How often in my ministry did I rush through the activities of the Easter weekend and miss the significance of the Saturday preparation to do the final act of caring? And how it would prepare our hearts to see Sunday!