Loree and Lamentations
Today is Holy Saturday. On this day, we wait with Jesus, as he is in the tomb. It is a day of sorrow. For many of us it is a day of sorrow because of the deaths from COVID 19. Because of the many who are sick. Because the poor and marginalized are at greater risk. Today we can sit with Jesus in his death, and remember those we love.
One of the readings for today is Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24. Lamentations is attributed to Jeremiah, although it was probably written much later. It is, as its name implies, a lament to God. The lament is an ancient form of prayer, seen often in the psalms. It is a visceral pouring out of one’s heart to God. You can see it in the Psalm appointed for Good Friday, Psalm 22: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me? And are so far from my cry, and the words of my distress.”
Today is a day for lament. For crying out to God from the deepest recesses of our heart. To lay it all out before God. I discovered long ago that God can handle it when we do this – God is not angry when we lament; indeed God created us out of love, and that love for us extends to our most broken moments.
Laments often move from sorrow to hope. This can be seen in today’s reading, and in the psalms. Lament can be a cathartic experience, and I have found that after emptying my heart to God, I feel more at peace. In Lamentations, the writer ends with: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul,"therefore I will hope in him." Even in lament, we can find comfort from our God.
Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24
I am one who has seen affliction
under the rod of God's wrath;
he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
against me alone he turns his hand,
again and again, all day long.
He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,
and broken my bones;
he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
he has made me sit in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has put heavy chains on me;
though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,
he has made my paths crooked.
The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!
My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him."
