Easter joy

Easter Day

Hallelujah!

Sing to the Lord a new song;

sing God’s praise in the congregation of the faithful.

Psalm 149:1

Mary Magdalen at the Tomb
Daniel Bonnell 2023
ink on grocery bag

Easter joy

is the joy that comes in the morning

after a night of weeping

and speaks to the deepest grief

Easter joy

is at first unrecognizable

and then speaks our name

and we are saved

Easter joy

unsettles the very foundations of the universe

and renews creation

Easter joy

commands us to go

compels us to proclaim

its breathtaking goodness

with every Alleluia!

The morning after

 Holy Saturday

Let my prayer enter into your presence;

incline your ear to my lamentation.

Psalm 88:2

the morning after comes

heavy

with the weight of death

the reality of grief

and shards of broken hope

the morning after

all has collapsed

into emptiness

to be filled

with lamentation

but not yet

now there is only silence

as time stops

and creation holds it breath

Emptying

Good Friday

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

and are so far from the words of my distress

Psalm 22:1

The emptying has begun

of expectation

of certainty

of false hope

empty altar

empty cup and plate

holy things

emptied

of purpose

cruel wind

emptying

bystanders

of compassion

a God

so far 

too far from the cry

blood and water

poured out

leaving a body

empty of life

Next

Maundy Thursday

I spread out my hands to you;

my soul gasps to you like a thirsty land.

Psalm 143:6

the next step

is irrevocable

the breath after that

a gasp

a choked cry

at the tenderness

displayed in the midst

of inevitable betrayal

the next heartbeat

pained by abandonment

and the fear

of all that comes

next

Gracious space

Wednesday in Holy Week

 

I would flee to a far-off place

and make my lodging in the wilderness

Psalm 55:8

The space around me is gracious

open

waiting

expanding into sacred time

which cannot be counted in minutes

hours or days

measured rather

by encounters

with faithful conversation

quiet confessions

the rhythm of worship

of preparation

I collect distractions

gather them up

then scatter them

set them aside

the final stretch of wilderness

a clearing

an emptying

making way

Tears

Tuesday in Holy Week

Depart from me all evildoers,

for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

Psalm 6:8

My journey

approaches its end

from moment

to moment I step

from one terrain to another

The holy path

the ubiquitous

the oblivious

Each its own stream

claiming

my attention

my effort

I yearn to immerse myself

my thoughts

my focus

my aching soul

in the sacred 

where my weeping is heard

my tears kept and counted

Collapse

Monday in Holy Week

Give me the joy of your saving help again

and sustain me with your bountiful spirit.

Psalm 51:13

collapse

the entry point

the gateway

the threshold I cross into this holy week

the beginning of the end

collapse of time

the weeks of striving

the path ahead

disintegrate into now

collapse of the limits of human experience

from greatest expectation

to ultimate pain and loss

utter destruction of hope

all of it

collapses into tangled chaos

that will somehow end up

at the foot of the cross

where all

all of it

all of me

can be redeemed