Dearest Jesus,
The world is in darkness,
the night lasting forever, so it seems.
And You are … dead.
I saw it, as they hung You on the cross,
as they waited until You could breathe no more,
as they plunged the spear into Your side, just to make sure.
I saw it, as the vultures circled above and the soldiers circled
below, as some friends took Your limp body from the cross and
carried You away, preparing Your body for burial.
I felt it, too.
An emptiness invaded my soul,
a despair invaded my emptiness.
A sharp pain of grief stabbed my stomach;
a dull throb of sadness moved into my heart.
Now I stand here in the darkness,
unsure what to do, whom to cry out to or believe in:
Will the morning ever come?
Will the light ever rule again?
Will ever life return to my life, to this world?
Will there be something or someone to believe in,
to bank our lives and world on?
I stand… and wait… as do so many others.
I stand… and wait… for some sign of stirring… of life… of hope.
As I wait, I see light in the distance, the sun breaking through.
And I see the form of someone running,
a woman… or two or three…
They are leaping as they run, doing a little jig as they run,
talking, shouting, singing all at once.
What is it that they are saying? I cannot quite make it out…
Now I can. Yes, I hear them!
He is risen!
Halleluia! Amen!
The Rev. Dr. John G. Hamilton is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Rochelle, Illinois.
