Forty Days: Lent Daybook 5
Look: Days Of Rain: Installation, Paul Roorda - Source
Installation description: “Found in an abandoned rural church in Lamlash, near Durham, Ontario, this installation suggests a tragic event of some kind. Elements of this work hint at a fictional community struggling with despair, wishing for hope: Remembering the past while apprehensive about the future. With the doors of the church locked most of the time, the only view of this forgotten memorial is through the dusty windows as if those who created it, left with greater concerns on their minds.”
Listen: Ever Since the World Ended, Loudon Wainwright III - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:3-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-13
Entire Scripture Reading:
“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. ‘God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’ “
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“Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”
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“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”
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“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”
Pray: Collect for the First Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Do: On Sundays during Lent, we break our fast (at least partially). Enjoy something you've given up, giving thanks to Christ for the abundance we receive from his obedience and great love.
Spend a few moments preparing for the first full week of Lent.
Retrieving the Language of Lament
Our congregation is practicing lament this Lent. Our pastor (who also happens to be my good husband, Brian) recognized that all of us are carrying the weight of accumulated loss and needing to learn how lament is both an act of worship and a gift for our own souls. We’re also reading W. David O. Taylor’s excellent book Open and Unafraid: The Psalms as a Guide to Life which points us toward the Psalmist as our model for expressing the full range of human emotion in the presence of God.
I feel compelled to look deeply into lament, beyond my preconceived notions, to grow in my understanding of lament as more than an idea but an expansive and healing language we’ve been given by our Creator. The language that Christ, in the words of the poet Rilke, came to retrieve. Like any language, we can learn just the bare minimum for survival or we can immerse ourselves in its full expression.
If lament is a forgotten language for most of us, how have we been expressing our sadness, anger, and grief, and depression up to now?
As I’ve been praying about this question, it’s occurred to me one of the popular grief stage theories might help me understand the language we’re using when we don’t know how to speak the language of lament. What might the categories of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance help me understand about the shortcuts we take to expressing a wholehearted lament?
In his book, David Taylor offers guidance to recognize the pattern of the majority of the lament psalms: a complaint, a petition, and a resolution. I began to wonder if this simple pattern of expression might help us counter the inadequate language of the stages of grief?
Each week of Lent, I’ll be considering one stage of grief in the light of one part of the psalmic pattern of lament. Imagine we’re going back to language class to learn the parts of a sentence. Earlier this week, I shared with our Stories community that anger seems to be the stage of grief I’ve been stuck in for much of 2020. I need, more than ever, to be able to articulate the layers of grief cluttering up my soul with half-finished thoughts and angry sputtering.
As we’ve entered 2021, I’m grateful that the Spirit intercedes for me when my groanings are too deep for language, but I also want to keep learning a more robust language. I’d like to do more than survive the relentless noise of suffering we’re all absorbing into our hearts, minds, and bodies this past year especially; I’d like to know how to not only be still and know God but also to boldly ask “Give ear to my words, O Lord” (Ps. 5:1) and “Listen while I build my case, God” (Ps. 17:1, MSG).
I want to extend the invitation to learn the language of lament to you also. Language is for the community. It helps us to know each other and our own selves with more compassion.
Will you join me?
Lament in Week 1: Honesty to unlock denial
Stage of grief: Denial
Language of lament: Honesty
Lament in Week 2: Complaint to articulate your outrage*
Stage of grief: Anger
Language of Lament: Complaint
Lament in Week 3: Petition to articulate desires
Stage of grief: Bargaining
Language of lament: Petition
Lament in Week 4: Questions of complaint and petition to help articulate depression
Stage of grief: Depression
Language of lament: Complaint and Petition
Lament in Week 5: Resolution to stay present to lament with God and others in order to affirm meaning and welcome wisdom
Stage of grief: Acceptance
Language of lament: Resolution
Lament in Week 6: Mourning Stories from 7 friends to help us reflect on Jesus’ words of lament and to retrieve our own
Stage of grief: All
Language of lament: The Seven Last Words of Christ reflected in the stories of 7 stories from 7 friends**
It might be helpful to start a journal to use through the rest of Lent. Let this be a place you share your honest thoughts and feelings with God. We’ll also spend time at the end of each week in the Lent Daybook Meditations reflecting on the previous seven days. A journal might help you recall what’s been stirring in your heart and mind along the way.
If journalling feels paralyzing to you, don’t do it. You might want to talk out loud to God as you walk or knit or do the dishes. Some of you might even form your thoughts best by crafting a playlist or painting a picture.
Our weekly prayer for Lent:
Knowing that God loves me unconditionally, I can afford to be honest about how I am. How has the last day been, and how do I feel now? I share my feelings openly with the Lord. (Sacred Space for Lent).
Together we will trust Jesus to be with us as we retrieve the language of lament.
