Sitting Opposite the Tomb

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone. Matthew 27:55-66 

Sitting Opposite the Tomb

Some days there is nothing to do
a loving heart wracked with sobs
hands clinging to the lifeless body
eyes full of the open wounds.

Some days there is no action to take
only breathing and sighing
bending and struggling in prayer
helpless watching the scene unfold.

Some days there is no response
but to seek the love of the others
the bereaved and the beloved community
who gather despite the pain.

Today we will sit by and weep
we will talk into the night and wonder
we will tell the stories of love
and be moved once again to action.