Today is the day between death and new life. It is also the day that tradition calls the “harrowing of hell,” referred to in what is called the Apostles’ Creed – a statement of belief possibly from the 5th century. The belief that Jesus descended into Hell and freed prophets and Old Testament figures is earlier, probably around the second century.
This day invites us to consider what occurs between death and life and how we should care for the dying. In the midst of a war in Ukraine, the people brutally attacked have shown care in burying the bodies of fallen Russian soldier. As one Ukrainian said, “we are not beasts.”
On this day even as we await Easter it is important to not forget the grief survivors feel, those survivors of war and violence, hunger and poverty. This day calls us to continue to care for the living and the dying. The symbolic meaning of the descent into Hell means that no one is to be left out of God’s promise of a new age, one of true justice and peace.
Prayer for the Day
Between our fear of death and the promise of new life, O God,
We come to you for we truly fear the loss of life;
The Fridays of our lives so often are painful,
And we struggle to get past them to embrace your gift of life.
Grant, O Lord, that we are able to live as if Friday is not the end,
But a transformation brought about by your grace.
In the name of the One who transforms us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear
- C.S. Lewis, from A Grief Observed (1898-1963)
grief is a house where the chairs have forgotten how to hold us the mirrors how to reflect us the walls how to contain us
- Judy Nelson, from The Sky s Everywhere
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.
Psalm 34: 18-19