Today is Holy Saturday, the quiet space between the execution of Jesus on Friday and the empty tomb on Sunday.
Much of our lives are lived in the space between, liminal space The space of the now and the not yet The space between life and death. The space between the notes that shapes the music.
Yesterday, over 150 people gathered for Good Trouble Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Fourteen faith leaders spoke in a justice-oriented interpretation of the Stations of the Cross. People called out realities of food insecurity, Palastinian genocide, violence against Black trans women, racism, education, and other places where Christ is being crucified today.
We live in the space between the work for justice and its realization, the kingdom of empire and the kindom of God, a resurrected people still working for resurrection.
Sabreen Abu Obaid, MD, Baladna, Palestine Society of Columbus, prayed:
“We remember that Jesus, a Palestinian Jew under Roman occupation, was crucified by a state that feared the truth he carried. And still today, the rulers of the world crucify prophets in Congo, in Sudan, in Yemen, in Myanmar, on Native lands from Turtle Island to the Amazon— where resistance continues to rise in sacred defiance. From Ohio to Rafah, from East Palestine to the Jordan Valley, let Your justice roll down like waters, and Your righteousness like a mighty stream. May our remembrance today not end in mourning, but move us into holy disruption. May we tear down the systems that harm— racism, settler colonialism, capitalism, environmental plunder, and militarized greed— and raise up a new kin-dom where no one profits off the pain of another, a kin-dom rooted in dignity, repair, and collective liberation. Bless our elders who carry memory like fire. Bless our children who dream despite the ruins. Bless our artists, healers, dancers, and poets— for art is resistance, joy is resistance, and culture is a form of prayer. O Christ, may we carry Your cross not with resignation, but with fierce and tender love that dares to confront injustice. Let your resurrection not be a distant hope, but a living practice that begins in us—here and now. Let it rise through action, through community, through unwavering solidarity until every wall falls and every people taste freedom. Amen.”
