Anniversaries prompt us to look back at the journey to this point in history, to see where we have come from, to recall the many commemorative markers that are strung together on one long winding path. Looking back can be inspiring, nostalgic or even painful.

So many anniversaries have happened in March: our own wedding anniversary of 25 years, the one year anniversary of the begin of South African lockdown, my sister’s return from her volunteering on a Mercy Ship. And now, another Easter under lockdown. We look back and marvel at how our world has changed, and how we have changed.

At the same time anniversaries prompt us to look forward as we inevitably move through time closer to the next anniversary. For some people this is a reassuring rhythm that grounds us, for others frightening or dreadful, and for a few this view of “more of the same” gives them the impetus to change direction.

As I look back over the many anniversaries of Easter back to the first one, I have also been thinking about the “inbetweens”. The disciples and Jesus celebrated Passover, looking back at the Israelites’ journey of freedom from Egyptian slavery. The next year the disciples would celebrate Easter. They would never again experience the Passover celebration in the same way. They were probably unaware that they had started the journey from Passover to Easter. After the last supper, they were inbetween the old and the new.

That weekend changed everything for them. During that traumatic Friday their close friend and teacher, the one they called Lord, their hope for change and a new life, was destroyed before their eyes. Saturday must have felt endless in dark grief and fear of the future, a day of hiding from the outside world, of much confusion and exhaustive questions – a difficult day of inbetween. They did not have the big picture yet – but Sunday was coming.

What space do you find yourself in – could you be “inbetween”?