Lament Rather Than Strategy

When the news of the massacre in Newtown, CT came to me, it was a lot to take in all at once.  At first, I found myself trying to block it out as I didn't want to deal with the flood of emotions that would follow once I really allowed the horrible news to penetrate the depths of my being.  But we can only block out the hurt and pain for so long.  My daughter is 7 and my son is 11.  With every reminder of them, I imagined what it would be like to receive a call telling me I wouldn't see her/him get off the school bus today...not tomorrow, not ever again.  I immediately burst into tears.  I was in touch with the pain of our fellow sisters and brothers in Newtown who are experiencing the worst of all losses. When my children finally came home from school, I was so thankful to embrace them a little longer than usual, kiss them, and look them in the eye and tell them how much they mean to me and how much I love and cherish them.  All the while, it felt so unfair.  "I get to love on my children, but what about these families in Newtown? It's just not fair, God!", I thought.

It is also completely unfair to criticize most responses to such horrific tragedy.  In times of such utter chaos and disorientation, we react while riding on the world's fastest emotional roller coaster.  We hear responses that vary from imprecation upon the perpetrator(s) to offers of mercy and forgiveness.  In some ways, they all seem fitting, because all responses say one thing loud and clear:  We do not know how to respond to the unfathomable.  So, I want to be clear: my responses that follow do not seek to minimize or criticize the responses of others. What follows is simply a way of working through the raw emotions and feelings of helplessness that has been helpful for me in times where chaos seems to reign.

I believe our inability to find the right words, the right actions, the right feelings, in times such as these is appropriate.  We modern people are wired to manage and control the world.  We rely on our own strength, intelligence, and aptitude to make things right, or at least the way we would imagine rightness.  But when tragedy such as this strikes, we become helpless.  We cannot make it go away.  We cannot manage and we cannot control.  There is no strategy to put into place or political agenda to spread that will make things better.  In the end, no matter what we say or do, these precious children are still not coming home to their families, friends, and loved ones.

In times where we are left with tears more than ideas and solutions, the often neglected lament is helpful for a new and healing perspective. In his book The Message of the Psalms, Walter Brueggemann defines the lament as honest speech to a familiar God in time of disorientation that gives the potential for movement from disorientation and towards re-orientation (my paraphrase).  Brueggemann suggests that the church has been largely uncomfortable with lament because it seems to contradict God's sovereign reign.  Laments "lead us into dangerous acknowledgment of how life really is.  They lead us into the presence of God where everything is not polite and civil.  They cause us to think unthinkable thoughts and utter unutterable words.  Perhaps worst, they lead us away from the comfortable religious claims of 'modernity' in which everything is managed and controlled" (53).  Simply put, the lament does not seek to defend God or let God off the hook. They do not offer answers but only questions and those questions are directed to the God for whom the one who prays expects to act.

Some might feel uncomfortable questioning God, and that is understandable.  Many accuse the one who questions God to have a lack of faith, but I believe the one who laments demonstrates extraordinary faith as her questioning is a confession that she is in relationship to a God who intends the world to be other than the current state of affairs. Brueggemann says, "The complaint is not spoken by one who is a stranger to Yahweh, but one who has a long history of trustful interaction" (54).

In situations such as these, modern/post-modern human beings are usually very quick to usurp the speech and activity of God rather than directing activity and speech towards God in expectation that God will speak and act.  Every time something like this happens, without exception, the airwaves become congested with the voices of human beings who claim to see from the perspective of the divine.  Rather than speaking about God, for God, etc., the lament invites us to bring our raw and honest feelings of hurt and betrayal to the God who has been known to bring hope from despair and new life from the tomb.

I believe we are hearing way too many bright ideas concerning how WE fix things or how God is or is not culpable, etc. and not enough expectation that God will and wills to act in the midst of the deep and dark shadows of extreme danger and loss.

Here's an example from Psalm 13.  This is an honest prayer to a God who is familiar to the psalmist.  The one who prays expects that God should and will act.  She knows there is no hope other than the saving activity of God.

How long, O LORD?
will you forget me for ever?
how long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I have perplexity in my mind,
and grief in my heart, day after day?
how long shall my enemy triumph over me?
Look upon me and answer me, O LORD my God;
give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him,"
and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.
But I put my trust in your mercy;
my heart is joyful because of your saving help.
I will sing to the LORD, for he has dealt with me richly;
I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

Our Psalter is full of laments for a reason.  It is a very appropriate and faithful response of the church in times that are filled with death, hurt, and disappointment.  Here is a list of psalms of lament in the Bible.    May they help us to direct our speech and activity to the God who can make a difference rather than usurping God's speech and activity through our own vain attempts to control and manage.

Psalms of Lament in the Bible:  13, 22, 86, 35, 74, 79, 137, and 88 among others.  

Here is a song I wrote that was my personal lament when the earthquake and tsunamis hit Japan in 2010.  

Hear our song, O Jesus.
It is our prayer!
For your people -- we're in trouble;
and we need to know you care!

Chorus:
You're enthroned above the waters,
incarnate yourself with us.
Bring to us salvation;
God please keep your word!

You spoke and the waters calmed
you rose and beat down death
can you not save your people?
let us see your outstretched arm!

[Chorus]:

You are Lord of Life
yet death is all around!
Do you not hear our groanings?
Let us see your nail scarred hands!

[Chorus]:

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May God come and come very soon, bringing new life from the pits of despair.  May the comforting presence of God the Holy Spirit make the victory of Christ present for each of the families who experience loss in Newotwn for the glory of God the Father and for the transformation of the world.

Advent Blessings,

Tommy Thompson