Lamentations
5The Lord has become like
an enemy; he has destroyed Israel; He has destroyed all its palaces, laid in
ruins its strongholds, and multiplied in daughter Judah mourning and
lamentation. (Lamentations 2:5)
In
today’s reading from Lamentations,
God has left a whole kingdom in mourning and lamentation. Why would we want to
dwell on this kind of God? Wouldn’t it be better to just move on the many
positive reminders of God’s love found in the Old Testament?
Each
year, members of our church travel to war-torn El Salvador as partners of the
Episcopal diocese there. After the first group came back, I was curious to hear
about the project that our church was working on. “What did you do there?” I
asked the travelers.
“We
toured with our El Salvadoran brothers and sisters. We saw the sites of
massacres. We listened to their stories. We worshipped with them.”
“Yes,”
I would reply impatiently. “But what did you DO? What did you WORK on?”
“Well,
we journeyed with them through their horrible histories,” was their puzzling
reply. Honestly, I like to get things
done, so this answer never quite satisfied me.
But,
today’s reading helps me to understand the wisdom of our El Salvadoran brothers
and sisters. They know the importance of being with God not just in praise and
thankfulness, but also in their deep sadness. Their honest interaction with God
includes a naming of injustices done to them. Their lamentation of the murder
of Archbishop Romero serves as a reminder of the injustice of the world, and as
a framework for rebuilding their country.
I think the Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann sums up this process when
he prays:
Teach us how to weep while we wait,
And how to hope while we weep,
And how
to care while we hope.
So,
this week, I’m rethinking my ideas about texts of lamentation. I’d like to end
with a prayer by St. Yared of Ethiopia.
(This saint, who died in 571,
was a semi-legendary Ethiopian
musician credited with inventing the sacred music tradition of
the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church.)
As we continue through this Holy Week, may we
remember both the lamentation and the hope offered in the cross.
Affirmation (St. Yared, Ethiopia)
The cross is the way of the lost.
The cross is the staff of the lame.
The cross is the guide of the blind.
The cross is the strength of the weak.
The cross is the hope of the hopeless.
The cross is the freedom of the slaves.
The cross is the water of the seeds.
The cross is the consolation of the bonded labourers.
The cross is the source of those who seek water.
The cross is the cloth of the naked.
The cross is the healing of the broken.
The cross is the peace of the church.
(Julie Mankowsky)
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