My Holy Saturday reflections published in an eBook to benefit River City Food Bank

I don't allow commercial plugs on this blog, but today I am making a partial exception to benefit a very worthy cause.

This topic may not sound very Advent-y, but go with me here.

Several years ago I wrote a short book of reflections about Holy Saturday, the second day of the three days of Easter, the day when Jesus goes to Hell to let everyone out.

My reflections emerged from a group that I led in 2007 that we called "The Holy Saturday Project." As part of the project we worked at the  River City Food Bank which serves some of the poorest and neediest people in Sacramento, a city that has been hit very hard in the economic downturn. We also washed the feet, and trimmed the toenails, of homeless people on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week that year -- and it was not a ritual washing but the real thing with dirty and chapped feet.

The only problem with this book is I never got around to getting it published. The manuscript has sat in my computer, not exactly lost, and not quite forgotten, but a labor-of-love writing project that has not emerged from it virtual tomb.

So I have done something about that. I've published my Holy Saturday book as an Amazon.com Kindle edition with its original title from 2007: "Descending Into Hell" Resurrecting Holy Saturday, Easter's Missing Link. It costs $4.99, and you can download it to your computer, Kindle or iPad. You can find the book HERE.

And here is the good news: I will contribute all the royalties -- 100 percent -- to the River City Food Bank which is so much a apart of this book. The Amazon Kindle royalty is 70 percent, so for every eBook sold, River City will get $3.49.

It may seem odd to you that I am writing about Holy Week in December, but Holy Saturday is akin to Advent: it is time of waiting and hoping, the time of "not yet" but "almost here." And River City could use the funds now.

Holy Saturday has been nearly lost in modern contemporary Christianity, but in ancient times it was immensely important, and was marked as day of fasting, prayer, looking outward with expectancy, and service to the poor. So is Advent.

River City has lived through its own Holy Saturday hell. An arsonist burned down the building a year ago.

Thanks to tremendous community support, River City Food Bank has rebuilt in a new mid-town location.

The organization still needs $36,000 to get fully back up to speed.

The arson and aftermath happened after I wrote these reflections, but that is not included in the reflections. The book, for whatever it is worth, reflects my thoughts and experiences from 2007, and therefore stands on its own as written. I have refrained from giving it a rewrite or another edit. What is most important to me is you read it, reflect upon it and lend me your thoughts -- and be generous with the River City Food Bank.

Grieving for sacred spaces destroyed by fires

Today prayers and sympathy go out to many friends on both coasts. Fire destroyed the 19th century chapel at the Virginia Theological Seminary yesterday -- all that is standing are bricks.

I had a chance several years ago to spend a week at the chapel for a preaching conference. My memories are but small compared to the memories of many others. We often say "the church is not a building, it is the people," and that is true. Yet we gather in sacred spaces, and our sacred spaces become the accumulation of our sacred moments and memories. Thousands of faithful servants were formed in this sacred space.

My friend Peter Carey, a VTS graduate, wrote about his memories on his blog (he took the photos from the vigil, see below). Please click HERE to read Peter's blog item about the VTS chapel. To see the report in The Washington Post, click HERE. The photo above of the chapel is from The Post.

On the other side of the country, the River City Food Bank in Sacramento was totally destroyed by fire a day earlier. More than 8,000 pounds of food for the poor also was destroyed. Tens-of-thousands of people were served by this building every year.

The food bank was housed in one of two annex buildings next to Trinity Cathedral, where Lori and I spent 18 years of our life. The food bank has been central to the mission of Trinity, and all of us connected to Trinity grieve heavily at this loss of sacred space.

The other annex building, housing the Office of the Bishop, was also heavily damaged and the bishop has moved to temporary quarters elsewhere. Both of these buildings played a major role in shaping my life; they were more than just bricks. Please read the story in The Sacramento Bee by clicking HERE. To learn how you can help rebuild the Food Bank, please click HERE.

Yes, new life will emerge from the ashes. But today, we grieve.