Lamentations 1

Why?

Why do we feel loss? pour out our hearts and tears? Is there a human value to this?

Over the course of Lent I want to read Lamentations in the light of the big picture

of scripture. 1:1 starts out - Oh no! She sits alone. Lamenting, weeping reaches into the

solo part of who we are and connects us. When no one else is there we are tempted to think we are alone. Visually the evidence may support this. But and yes BUT! God meets us in the hole deep inside us and God does not exploit our tears or walk away from them, 'until we are cleaned up and nose wiped.'

In loss we have a clearer sense of the truth around us. Who are the deeper ones

around us who are not running away when we are alone?

vs three, lamenting takes away our rest. It wearies us, burning through all that excess

energy that we use willy-nilly all the time. Mourning lamenting takes away the comfort

of rest and with exhaustion cleans out all the resources or seeming resources we have.

And when we are fully empty we can then stop, all the busyness, empty the last tear

and rest in God.

No one said faith was fun.