And so it was on the third day, the Sunday after Jesus’ crucifixion, that the stone was found to be rolled away from the tomb.
The veil at the temple was torn from the top to the bottom. Inside the the tomb the burial clothes were neatly folded.
From that day forward, scripture became alive, as what was promised in the Old Testament was fulfilled in the New Testament.
And so whenever I have a “dark Friday” moment I remember that there was a Third Day and nothing has ever been the same for those who believe.
My faith is as much a part of who I am as the last breath that I just breathed. It was a faith that was instilled in me as a little girl sitting in my Sunday School class in the Nazarene Church on the corner of 10th and Grant Streets. My mother was my first teacher.
I remember singing and learning to play the piano. My piano teacher, Mary Clark, taught me to play hymns. Hazel Box and Dollie Wainscott taught me to play the organ. Eventually, I became the church organist.
The old hymns, The Old Rugged Cross, Because He lives, and Amazing Grace spoke to my heart then and they still do today.
“The Old Rugged Cross” reminds me that Christ died for me. “Because He Lives” gives me the hope that I need when my tomorrows come with many questions and uncertainty and anxiousness. “Amazing Grace” tells me that I need to forgive just as I was forgiven. There is freedom in that grace.
The scriptures that I memorized are still engraved in my thoughts. Both hymns and scripture give me a peace that passes all understanding.
Psalms 34 is often my go to chapter when I am fearful or overwhelmed or feel broken. Singing the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, calms my anxious heart. Why? Because I remember the times that God was faithful.
It was in the waiting and the singing and the reading of my Bible that I gained strength and wisdom during the storms of my life. I have written my thoughts throughout my Bible. It is a journal of my life and what I have been through. It is messy and worn.
The sound of Amazing Grace will always be sweet to me.
And so it is on the Third Day, that we now call Easter, that I sing because He lives I can face tomorrow. Because He lives all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives.