This Day

RESPONSIVE READING FOR CONGREGATIONAL USE
ON
EASTER AND PACIFIC ISLANDER AND ASIAN AMERICAN MINISTRIES SUNDAY

THIS DAY 

With fear and trembling, engulfed in sadness and despair, someone approaches the tomb.  That day of terror, desertion, and death has passed.

     With uncertainty and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With love’s longing someone dares visit the repository of execution’s victim.  That day of broken dreams and bones has passed.

     With uncertainty and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With shock and confusion, and the shaking of knees, someone observes the rolled-away stone.  That day of things making sense has passed.

     With uncertainty and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With mystery all around, someone hears a familiar voice and senses a beloved personality.  That day of succumbing to lifelessness has passed.

     With uncertainty and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With enraptured heart and a willfulness of trust, someone witnesses life’s continuation and purpose.  That day of death’s ultimacy has passed.

     With uncertainty and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With excitement and amazement, mysteriously empowered, someone seeks out the hidden-away ones.  That day of retreat and isolation has passed.

     With uncertainty and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With disbelief and yet a willingness to embrace belief, others seek the evidence of life once thought lost.  That day of death’s permanence has passed.

     With emerging hope and faithfulness we move forward this day. 

With enthusiasm and conviction, someone continues to witness to God’s relentless claim on us in this life and the next.  That day of abandonment, oppression, and injustice has passed.

     With growing trust and faithfulness we move forward this day.

With joy and excitement, linked by a sense of community that spans distance  and is unhindered by differences in language, culture, or custom, someone reaches out in friendship and mutuality “in the struggle for justice and peace” and calls us beloved.  That day of separation has passed.

     With appreciation and faithfulness we move forward this day. 

With confidence in God’s guidance, Christ’s presence, and the Spirit’s empowerment, someone anticipates growing partnership among our United Church of Christ in the Philippines and the United Church of Christ in the United States.  That day of being strangers has passed.

     With respect, trust, and unity in Christ, we move forward this day—many voices, one Word.

Thanks be to God!

     Amen! 

By Dennis Alger, Central Pacific Conference, UCC