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Easter belief/disbelief
a: There was nothing else to do so I went back to the garden
b: There was nothing else to do so I locked all the doors
a: I needed to be in the place where we last saw him and feel his presence
b: I needed to be far from the place we last saw him and forget the pain
a: I needed the space, the air, to be in the open thinking he might just walk round the corner
b: I needed to close the doors, shut the windows and just think what we had lost
431 v2
a: Where’s the stone?
b: Where the key?
a: The tomb is open!
b: The door needs to be locked!
a: I am afraid. Where have they taken him? I need to find him!
b: I’m afraid. Where will they take us if they find us?
431 v3
a: Footprints in the dew, and who is that standing before me with the sun behind him?
b: No knock at the door but who is that standing among us
a: It is the gardener.
b: It is a ghost.
a: But he calls my voice and it sounds familiar… it cannot be!
b: He speaks to us and I recognise his voice… it cannot be!
431 v1
In the haunting before dawn
when tombs empty
the early morning ribbons of mist fade
Heaven has had a restless night
First Voice
Voice 1:
I have seen him
at dawn
in the garden
just as the light broke
it was almost reserved
indifferent
as if: ‘of course I should be here’
he just strolled into the morning
the kingdom morning
and greeted me
with my name
It was a single moment
between him and me
resurrection
has no fanfares
no alleluias
no shouts
just a whisper of your name
spoken on new breath
fresh from the grave
I have seen him
Have you?
Long pause
Voice 2:I have seen where he should have been
I have seen the tomb
but there was just a hollow emptiness
No sound
No smell
No body
Just emptiness
coloured by a fallen grave cloth
now unused
just emptiness
inside too
who had been here before me
already
the thieves had been
and he wasn’t even three days in the grave
for that must have been what happened
for the other possibility
that death had been stolen instead
was just to great to believe
I have seen where he should have been
Have you?
Long pause
Voice 3:
I have yet to see him
I have heard the rumours
I have been to the grave
but I have yet to see him
I long now
to touch his wounds
or hear his voice
or for him to call my name
Am I too unbelieving to see him?
Too afraid to see him
with a fear
that what he said
might be actually be true
I have yet to see him
and I fear that moment
and long for it too
It might all be true…
I have yet to see him
Have you seen him?
Long pause
Litany of the dawn
When the world was young
at that first sunrise
and the new light
held a promise
of new days
and fresh mornings
The Word spoke...
...When the Word spoke
and creation sparked
and the alleluias unfolded
the dawn was set free…
...When the dawn was set free
the trees clapped hands
and mountains bowed
and the birds sang a new song
fresh every morning…
...Fresh every morning
the day holds a hope
that this day is God’s
and this day holds the promise
and this day is a new beginning…
...A new beginning
is the song of the morning
that takes the shadows of night
and paints them gold and green
for the earth rejoices...
...The earth rejoices
for stones have rolled
and tombs have been empties
and angels are whispering
and death has been conquered...
...Death has been conquered
and resurrection
has left footprints in the dew
that tell us
he has gone ahead of us
he is not among the dead
he is not here...
Easter Day