Express Lament
Stop.
Take a deep breath. As you breathe in say, “I receive your peace.” As you breathe out say, “I cry out to you.” Repeat as many times as you need.
Listen.
Lord, Good Lord, hold us in your arms as we tear open the gospel’s hard truth. Is this the hour to trample down violence, to deny death any more lives?
To refuse false safety in walls and weapons, to beg of you Lord,
Courage enough to look at all that is amiss in our world?
- Litany from “9/11”, written by Gabe Huck, music by Gregg Smith, commissioned by Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York City, first performed on September 8, 2002
Reflect.
Scripture is full of lament. The Bible bears witness to the full expression of pain, loss, and loneliness in human experience. I’ve often felt that it validates how often hard feelings dominate our lives as believers. Faithful followers throughout time have known anger, sadness, and hurt. I’m not doing something wrong as a Christian when bad things happen to me. It is simply a real and true part of life which I get to bring to God.
Twenty years ago, Christians deeply struggled with how to consider the tragic and terrifying events of September 11, 2001. Some tried to assign it to God’s wrath. Others used it as a reason to demonize other traditions and religions. Still others wondered if it meant that God had abandoned us, if God was ever with us at all. Truly, these hugely horrifying events can shake our faith and leave us reacting in ways we never could have imagined.
However, in the ages-old tradition of lament, many Christians found a way to faithfully express their needs and fears. In crying out to God, we claim that God still has power – and that power is ours as well. Instead of feeling helpless, we recognize our ability to act by God’s direction. Instead of feeling vindictive, we act in keeping with God’s grace. Instead of feeling hopeless, we act trusting that God hears us and will not deny our prayers.
It is my hope that you will hold the sacred act of lament as the anniversary of 9/11 nears, and with it, feelings of rage and pain. You don’t have to run from or justify these feelings. You can bring them to God.
Pray.
Gracious and holy God, lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth. Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. (From Evangelical Lutheran Worship)
Carry On.
How do you want to express your lament to God, no matter what it is you grieve today? Sometimes writing can help. Give yourself ten minutes to write down your lament to God.