Prayers of Lament
A Part of the Series:
Rev. Dr. Steven Koski
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Even as there is hope on the horizon, there are so many sorrows so much uncertainty and fear.
So much heartache and pain and justice inequity deep division are still our constant companions. That’s why it’s important to have space, space to lament together.
There’s something healing and transformational in lament. It’s something the writers of the Psalms did regularly, as well as the prophets. Jesus encouraged us to connect to and release our pain as he said, Blessed are those who weep.
Sometimes our pain and sorrow seek not to be understood, but simply to be named, expressed, released. In times like these, supporting one another in naming our grief and sorrow feels necessary and important. So let this be a time. A time to invite our grief, our pain, our sense of loss from the privacy of our hearts into the sacred space of shared lamented prayer. The psalmist said as we lament, God heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds. So take a deep breath. Be present to what you hold in your heart today. Trusting It is God who holds us reading from Psalm 22 and 34 My strength is dried up. I am brittle and fragile. I am like a piece of broken pottery.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those whose spirits are crushed. As much as we were hoping, wishing praying for this year to be different, to be better. The journey through the landscape of grief and sorrow and challenge continues. We’re so aware of all that is out of our control of all that is broken, broken within us and around us. of all that needs repairing.
Grateful for people, grateful for those incredible smiles. For him, those smiles reminded him that that his pain was not the whole story. And there was a larger story of love holding them all.
So take a moment. Think about and name the names of people who fill you with gratitude. Feel free to write their names, the names of people you’re grateful for in the comment section. Think about the people who smiles reflect the divine in all of us. Who’s small acts of kindness to somehow managed to get us through people who remind us the people we’re grateful for in our life who remind us that we that we are not alone. The people whose love remind us the story isn’t over yet.