A Prayer for Holy Saturday

So, God, I was taking a selfie —
OK several selfies —
in the mask a friend made for me
to post as her thank-you,
and I realized
that I look completely different
when I am smiling behind the mask
than when I am gloomy or sad.

The mask covers mouth, chin, nose,
completely —
so how can that be?

Is it in my eyes?
the uptick in my wrinkles?
the fact that my cheeks
are slightly nearer to my ears?

I don’t know.

I do know that this is Holy Saturday.

And our whole season is Holy Saturdazed,
because life as we know it
has been masked —
for the busy ones, the lonely ones,
those who are losing the ones they love,
or senior proms, precious funerals,
happy vacations,
the financial ground
out from under their feet,

but we can see the difference
in those with the hidden smile of hope —

and we know, in spite of everything,
we want to be with them —

packing spices
instead of packing to go home.