Dear Caldwell,
It is 2:51 a.m. and the recorded sound of women chanting prayers in Latin fills our Prayer Room, formerly the “session room,” where stern, old men used to make all the decisions. The church is otherwise silent, resting after tonight’s rich and reflective Maundy Thursday service.
It is tradition in that service that, as the Passion narrative comes to a close and the Christ candle is extinguished, the Bible slams shut and stays shut for these three days. This is a sober reminder that the world was without the Word and dwelt in darkness for a time.
But God left in place a bookmark.
It marks the place where the story resumes, taking a turn no one saw coming. There we pick the story back up on Sunday morning.
But for now, it is dark and the women are chanting, plaintively.