During Lent, and as I have given much thought to many of the passages within the pages of the Book of Lamentations, I couldn’t help but turn my attention and offer multiple prayers to God for the people of Ukraine and the brokenness and shedding of tears that’s ongoing in the midst of their utter destruction.
To see over 2 million people; mothers, children, the elderly make their way across dismantled infrastructure will make the most hardened of hearts gently weep. To see where a tyrant nation has openly killed thousands of innocent victims is a hellish nightmare unleased upon the entirety of God’s Creation.
It was around 600 BC that Jerusalem was in the midst of similar destruction as the Babylonians pillaged both Jerusalem and the Temple, carting off all the spoils back to their city as over a million people were claimed to have died.
In their deepest sorrows the Israelites cried out to God, “We are powerless before this vast multitude that comes against us. We are at a loss what to do, hence our eyes are turned toward You”
Lamentation, a prayer for God’s intervention in the midst of pain and suffering is very common. It was for the ancients, and it is for our times too.
For me, lamenting has become a critical part of my own daily devotional moments. When dealing with pain and suffering, when our own anxieties and stresses are rising, you and I have the opportunity to cry out to God with full assurance that our prayers will be heard and from our history know that our pain will not last forever.
As I was in the midst of writing this column, I received a call from a grieving grandmother informing me that her granddaughter had died unexpectedly this morning (March 9th). In addition to her grandmother, this young lady leaves to cherish her memory a husband, children, a mother, extended family, and friends. This grandmother lost her husband of 62 years just 37 days ago. Again, I lament. “Though God brings grief, we will be shown compassion; so great is God’s unfailing love, for God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.”
The emotions of brokenness are real; the destruction seems to surround us, and it is during Lent that we are offered a window of time to recognize the sources of our grief and to offer ourselves to God as we lean into our Creator for comfort from our pain.
Perhaps as individuals our pain grows deeper than we know. Perhaps as a nation our brokenness and disappointment in the face of tragedies has found a place to park and hide. Perhaps as a world we’ve forgotten our responsibilities in offering ourselves to our siblings from other lands that we’ll never personally know. But through our prayerful lamenting may we be made fully aware that Easter is just around the corner.
Pastor Terry
Rev. Terry Williams
Pastor, Englewood & St. Paul UMCs in Rocky Mount