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For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my courage; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.
–– Lamentations 1:16
You invited my enemies from all around as if for a day of festival; and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I bore and reared my enemy has destroyed. –– Lamentations 2:22
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace at my tears.
–– Psalm 39:12a
But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress.
–– Psalm 59:16
A Lament
God of Creation, in your freedom you created for us a freedom that we have found to be both blessing and curse. In freedom, we may choose to wander amidst the glory of autumn’s leaf palette, or revel in a role as an infant’s jester, or relish the delight of a Crumbl cookie. Yet, in that same freedom we may choose words that wound, actions that alienate, or decisions that destroy. In freedom we may grant rage free reign, tear down instantly those friendships that took years to build and untold energy to maintain, see neighbor as a threat to be eliminated, or demonize any who dare to disagree. Fallen and fractured are we, Oh Lord, self-involved and self-important, quick to complain of the slightest discomfort or the meager inconvenience, while dismissing the horrific suffering of the stranger and even blaming them for their plight.
God of patient mercy, forgive us for taking the blessings of our freedoms for granted, and for the ease with which we use those freedoms in ways that harm, degrade, wound, and kill each other. Our mourning seems unceasing in these consistently violent days.
God of wisdom, in your freedom you gave us the freedom to be honest before you without fear of rejection. We read the laments in scripture and are consoled by the revelation that your love is stronger than our will to hate, and your grace can, not only withstand our rage, but transform it into decency and charity. We are confused by our appetite for malevolence and bitterness, blame and vengeance. Why are we so easily anesthetized against the suffering of others? Why can we not see the futility of malevolence and blame? Why are pathways to peace so often buried under the sludge of distrust? We do not understand our impulses and self-destructive inclinations. So, with the psalmists and prophets, we lift to you our interrogatory confusion, praying not that our freedoms be curbed, but rather that our freedoms be curved toward goodness. Let us not choose a paralysis resigned to the role of spectators watching the world burn. Let us follow you in following the helpers, guided by the Savior’s witness and the Apostle’s wisdom –– Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Amen.
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