Wind. The veil of heaven here is thin.
So blow into me, let the Spirit renew me.
Fill the sails of my heart. Wind.

Wind, in times of tohu wabohu*
Come and rest upon the waters
bringing life to your sons and daughters
Be our God within the storms, Wind.

So descend like a dove and alight as a fire,
touch my weary heart, lift my spirit higher.
Let the breezes blow, and the breath bring life.
Let the Spirit grow and direct my life,
and re-store me by your love. Wind.

Breath. The prophet called upon the breath,
and the bones came together to the glory of God forever,
in the valley of dry bones. Breath.

Wind. Disciples in Jerusalem.
They were touched with power, and the church was born that hour.  
Where two or more are gathered.  Wind.

So descend like a dove and alight as a fire,
touch my weary heart, lift my spirit higher.
Let the breezes blow, and the breath bring life.
Let the Spirit grow and direct my life,
and re-store me by your love. Wind.

* tohu wabohu is a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase rendered “without form and void” in Genesis 1 and it refers to a persistent raging chaos.

1 Alleluia!*
Praise, O servants of the LORD,*
praise the name of thé LORD!
2 May the name of the LORD be blessed*
 both now and fór evermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting*
praised be the name of thé LORD!

4 High above all nations is the LORD,*
above the heavens Gód’s glory.
5 Who is like the LORD, our God,*
the one enthróned on high,
6 who stoops from the heights to look down,*
to look down upon heaven ánd earth?

7 From the dust God lifts up the lowly,*
from the dungheap God raises thé poor
8 to set them in the company of rulers,*
yes, with the rulers óf the people.
9 To the childless wife God gives a home*
and gladdens her heart wíth children.

Praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit*
both now and fórever.
The God who is, who was, and is to come*
at the end of thé ages.

Silent Reflection

31   Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knowsa that he tells the truth.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

The Burial of Jesus

38   After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Silent Reflection

Waiting Lord, who laid in the silence and the darkness of an entombed Saturday.  You poured yourself out in self-sacrifice to redeem a world which neither understood you nor was grateful for your love.  Help us, who follow in your way, to know the power and peace of obedient sacrifice which does not need this world’s approbation but which grows instead from the heart of God.  Give us patience and courage that we too may trust in the inscrutable power of God’s love which is at work making resurrection where we see only death.  
Lord of the Sabbath, who desires mercy, and who restores us to life by rest.  We give thanks that on the Sabbath day God's love was at work in you bringing life from death.  “In returning and in rest is our salvation,” the prophet tells us.  Keep us this sabbath day and help us to grow in mercy and be restored.  Give us wisdom to know when to submit and rest from our labors and when your call to be merciful is urging us to help our neighbor.
Now, with the sun high in the sky and the world brightly illuminated, we are mindful that our lives are revealed to you always.  We know that the Lord brings to light the things now hidden in darkness and discloses the purposes of the heart.  So enlighten us with self-awareness, Lord,  and with a knowledge of your will so that our faults can be easily discerned and we can repent and rededicate ourselves to your way.  Urged by your apostle to "lay aside the works of darkness and live honorably as in the day,"  we confess our sins and seek your forgiveness:

†For words ill-considered and rashly spoken . . .
†For thoughts inconsistent with the heart of Christ . . .
†For actions which have brought shame on us or pain to others . . .
†For emotional, physical, and intellectual laziness which looks on the needs of others in indifference . . .
†For all of the ways we fall short of being your faithful disciples . . .

Lord, accept the offering of our very selves as a living and holy sacrifice to you.  We thank you for the liberty given to us in Jesus, the Christ, which enables us to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.  We feel your pleasure in our successes and rededicate our labors for the remainder of this day to your glory.  Make us courageous in acts of compassion, sagacious in words of encouragement, faithful in our friendships, and toward all cultivate in us a holy love which shines forth like a beacon in this darkened world.  Amen.

Leader: Lord, save us from the time of trial,
People: and deliver us from evil.

Leader: Give thanks to the Lord, who is good,  
People: whose steadfast love endures forever.