The richness of chapter life in the Companionship is reflected in a variety of programs and activities. Shortly before Advent, Companion Barbara Monahan presented a thought-provoking program on lament prayer, summarized below.  

 

What is one to do about the suffering in our lives, society and world? It is too much to bear even when we distract ourselves for a moment of joy with family and friends, a ball game or a much-needed vacation to someplace beautiful and tranquil!

 

We are not alone in this need for relief and we may find it in lament prayer. I was driven to find a way to work through all of the pain and suffering in our lives. Pain and suffering have been heightened in and through the global Covid pandemic; wars throughout the world that cause destruction, illness, malnutrition and death; and the neglectful treatment of the poor, the undocumented, women and children.

 

There is pain and suffering all around.

We hear the cries of grief.

And the desire to heal.

But how?

How long must suffering go on?

 

I listened to a Podcast about lament prayer and wondered if lament prayer might provide some kind of release for our suffering. Personally, I have yelled, moaned, and groaned in the privacy of my home during times of unbearable loss, pain and suffering.  It provided a sense of release and on some level hope because I was able to verbalize what I was feeling inside. I was able to do something!

 

Here is some hope for you:

God doesn’t leave us alone in our grief and suffering because God is right there in it with us.

The shortest scripture passage is a passage of lament;

 

 

“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)

Jesus wept when He visited Lazarus’s tomb while Mary and Martha were weeping over the loss of their loved one.

Jesus wept, even though he knew that Lazarus would live again.

Jesus wept with them.

Jesus weeps with us.

 

 

We can find God is with us throughout the Bible.

 

I invite you to read and meditate on just 4 scripture passages:

• God is with the brokenhearted in Psalm 34:18 which says,

God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those whose spirits have been crushed.

• God’s reaction to dashed hopes in the Jairus story (Mark 5:21-43, Matthew 9:18-26):

Jairus thinks his daughter is dead until Jesus heals her.

• God’s feelings about illness in the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-14):

The paralytic lost all hope for healing until he met Jesus, who wants to heal him and us.

• Jesus’ interaction to the fear in the Emmaus bound disciples (Luke 24:13-32):

 

Jesus walking with them shows us how he meets us where we are, in our pain, suffering, grief, and lost hope and dreams. These disciples did not recognize Jesus until after they broke bread together. We too may not recognize Jesus working in and through our lives and the lives of those around us.

 

Jesus asks us to be open to his presence.

 

Being open to Jesus’ presence, alone, has the power to shift our perspective from our human need for the healing of all the suffering to our holy surrender to our God, who is working all things for the good of all of creation. I invite you to meditate on these scripture passages especially when the wounds in and surrounding you are too much the bear.