Time for Questions

So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. <br> -Mark 16:8 (NRSV)

What do I say? <br> What do I do? <br> What should I do?<br> What can I do?

These seemingly simple questions run through our heads when we are confronted by personal tragedy or loss, or confronted by the world’s violence, injustice, or evil. We want to rush to answer the questions, to take the right steps, to manage our feelings and our emotions as we make a way forward. And yet, these questions are more likely to usher in an era of discernment in which we come back, again and again, to the same or developing questions as we grow.

After the public execution of Jesus and his burial in the tomb, our Sunday school narratives of this time tell us that the wait is over after only three days. And yet, that is not the story of the Gospels. The short ending of Mark reads this way.

What happens when the story ends in silence and fear?

Well, we know the story doesn’t actually end this way because here we are. So, if the narrative ends here, we imagine that these women entered a liminal space — the space between the empty tomb and meeting the resurrected Christ, or even the space between the empty tomb and the earliest gatherings of those who would become the church. Or maybe that in between space began in their grief at the foot of the cross. As they fled, I imagine their minds and hearts were filled with these questions just as our own may race with thoughts in the aftermath of any trauma.

I find great consolation in this ending. Because I know that eventually, the words the women spoke, the choices they made, the emotions that developed — this is the true foundation of the church, of a religious tradition that has lasted for thousands of years. Women who bravely engaged these in-between spaces are the mothers of a movement I try to still be a part of today.

The questions that badger us as we enter any transition, any liminal space, any waiting may be the questions that help us discern how God is moving among us to call us forward. The space we create in the moment after our terror and amazement may be the space we need to grow or build what comes next. God is in their silence as well in their words.

How can you create these kinds of spaces in your own life and practices so that you can discover God at work?

God who creates and sustains, <br> When we are paralyzed by our questions, invite us into a space where we can embrace those questions as we look to move forward alongside you. Give our hearts the assurance we need to know that with You, we will move beyond our fear.