As part of our Lenten program following Richard Rohr’s book The Tears of Things, we spent some time reflecting on lamentation and tears. We watched this video on the Biblical Book of Lamentations and discussed the way grief appears as part of our own prophetic journey.
Inspired by the acrostic structure of the poems in Lamentations, we collectively wrote our own:
Lord, lead us as we lament:
Loss of loved ones, lack of sleep, lies, and the legislature.
Love is what we long for.
Are you there, Adonai?
Alas, we feel anger and anguish,
Asking you for help, mercy, and comfort.
Make us whole again, Mother!
Melancholy, misery, and mourning
Move us to madness.
Enough already, Elohim!
Endless seems our exhaustion, exasperation, and envy.
Empathy and equality are our hope.
Neverending negative nothingness –
Not what things are supposed to be!
No more! No more!
Teach us through our trial and traumas,
Tire do we of tribalism, tribulation, and Teslas.
Take us, together, into your tenderness.
