Lord, like the women on their way to the tomb we are filled with questions and doubts. “Who will roll away the stone for us?” Like the men on the road to Emmaus, we are downbeat “our own hope had been that he was the one to set us free”. Like the woman who met the gardener we cry “They’ve taken the Lord from the tomb and we don’t know where they’ve put him”. Even on this Easter Day – this highpoint of our Church’s Year – we are, to put it mildly, confused.
Our country, economists tell us, is at a low. Our Church, journalists tell us, is broken. Our lives, our hearts tell us, are changed. We look for the constant. We search for hope. We long to hear the rolling of the stone and to see the whiteness of your Risen Garments.
The women’s prayer was answered – the stone was rolled away. The Emmaus’ Travellers had their eyes opened at the Breaking of Bread. The “Gardener” reassured the searcher in the whispering of her name “Mary”.
Help us to remember that our prayers too will be answered. Our hearts too will “burn within us” as He unfolds the Scriptures for us. Our land will survive, our country will find its feet, our church will find its voice, our search will not be in vain.
Lord, is that your voice I hear? Did you, will you please, speak my name? Amen!