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Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus\u2019 body. \xa0Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. \xa0It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (Luke 23:50-56)

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Holy Saturday is a liminal space.

What does that mean?\xa0 Well, a liminal space is a space between the end of one thing and the beginning of another.\xa0 It\u2019s an in-between space.\xa0 It\u2019s the threshold of a door that connects the outside to the inside, but which isn\u2019t really either of them.\xa0 It\u2019s the bridge that connects two countries, but that belongs to both or neither of them.\xa0 Liminal space is the no-man\u2019s-land in between.\xa0

But a liminal space can also be a period of time.\xa0 The time between completing school and receiving your diploma at graduation.\xa0 The time between sending an application and hearing a response.\xa0 The time of engagement between agreeing to marry and being married.\xa0 The time between Jesus\u2019 first coming and his second. \xa0All of these are liminal times.\xa0 But the principle archetype that gives meaning to all of them is the liminal space and time between Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection.

Because liminal spaces and times are not always happy places to be.\xa0 The space between a diagnosis, an accident, or the death of a loved one and whatever life looks like on the other side is a liminal space marked by grief and many other emotions that can stretch on for what seems like ages.\xa0 And in the suffering we endure through the middle of them, we can wonder if the new life of Easter is ever going to come.\xa0

This past few years of pandemic time has also been a liminal space.\xa0 Much of the life and world we knew ended somehow, perhaps in ways we have yet to discover.\xa0 Whatever life will look like on the other side is not yet known, though we are anxious to hold it, or to resolve the tension of this messy middle as quickly as possible to get there.\xa0 But Easter tarries.\xa0 All we\u2019re left with to hold on to is a swirl of restless emotions and the knowledge of what we\u2019ve lost.

I think this little passage in Luke about what happened in between the death and resurrection of Jesus can help us navigate any liminal space or time we may find ourselves in though: whether coming out of pandemic, awaiting a decision, or grieving and adjusting following the loss of someone or something dear.\xa0

Because, this particular liminal space between the death and resurrection of Jesus is marked by something quite different than the day before.\xa0 While Good Friday was marked by loud angry mobs pushing to get what they wanted for their own selfish and sinful reasons\u2014Holy Saturday is marked by just a few people quietly and humbly giving of themselves to practice faithfulness and love.

Joseph\u2014waiting for the kingdom of God\u2014lovingly and quietly cares for the lifeless body of Jesus.\xa0 The women prepare to do the same with spices and perfumes.\xa0 And then they too join the faithful posture of waiting in trust on God: they rest on the Sabbath.\xa0

The fact that Holy Saturday is a Sabbath day is of great significance, I think.\xa0 The faithful disciples practiced Sabbath in the liminal space.\xa0 They loved, cared, and trusted.\xa0 They waited.\xa0 They rested in the promises of God.\xa0 And in so doing, they gave their restlessness and emotions over to God.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

In each liminal season of our lives, I believe we are called to the same.

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