Lament

 

I heard on WTIP this morning that their coverage of COVID-19 started one year ago. In that time, there were lots of uncertainties about the near future. During April, there were estimates that 120,000 to 240,000 people could die if things got bad. Last week, we passed 500,000 deaths due to this pandemic in our country. Although the rate that people are dying has slowed down, we are still dying.

In America, we are the can-do, look to the future, overcome any obstacle, God is with us type of nation. Oftentimes our Christianity gets too close to this ideology and we forget there is brokenness in our world as well. Jesus wept with those who mourned, sat with the outcast, and fed those around him just so they would have food. Jesus even lamented over Jerusalem that they would turn their backs on those sent to them to hear the good news.

Because of this pandemic, we have not been able to gather to share our grief, much less gather together to hear a word of hope. In many ways, we are living in a desert of God’s Word; for to hear it fully, we have to listen to all sides, not just the joyous proclamation of salvation. We cannot go from the parade on Palm Sunday to the resurrection on Easter without first traveling through the betrayal, the desertion, and the death.

Though Cook County has been fortunate to have a low case count and no deaths; we have not come through this gauntlet unscathed and unwounded. We are not going back to normal, to the way things were. The world has changed and we have changed.

The Psalms give voice to our emotions, to the world, our human condition, and our relationship with God. They can be a guide and help us work through the shaking of our foundations, the loss we are dealing with. We can be honest in our anger, our grief, our fears, and all that is wrong with this world. Let them be a guide to us in this time.

I offer this Prayer of Lament until we can gather together again:

Merciful God, we are sick and tired of this pandemic. We are frightened for our family, our neighbors, and our nation. It’s so hard to be patient, waiting for people to be vaccinated, to continue to wear masks, and to not hug our family and friends outside our pod. We are angered over those who deny this is happening. Hasten the day to when we are through this, O LORD. Help us to be surrounded by your love, led by your Spirit, and carried by Christ when we can’t take another step. Amen.

Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Pastor Enzo Livere, First Congregational Church UCC Grand Marais.