Dear Friend,
How ya doing? How are you really doing?
The last week has been a lot. The last year has piled on and on and on. The news started bad (mysterious new coronavirus out of Wuhan), got worse (shut downs left people out of work), got worse (more Black lives snuffed out in seconds), got worse (conspiracy theories enticed more loved ones into rabbit holes), got worse (200,000 killed by COVID19), got worse (political divisions pitted neighbor against neighbor), got worse (someone you know either caught the virus, died from it, or needed to wait all day in a food bank line), got worse (kids struggled with distance learning, while educators' workloads quadrupled), got worse (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year were cancelled but nonetheless filled hospitals to three and four times capacity, depleting the heroic reserves of our healthcare workers), got worse (misinformation and hate fueled a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol while legislators tried to carry out their constitutionally mandated duties), and got worse (4,000 people are dying everyday in America--more than perished on 9/11).
What are we to do with such tragedy? This is trauma upon trauma. This hurts.
The Scriptures have a spiritual practice for us. It's call lamenting. The book of Lamentations records the broken heart of a nation that had been sent into exile. The Israelites knew exactly what was called for in that moment: grief.
Perhaps you are grieving. And that's OK.
Perhaps you are angry. That's OK, too.
Perhaps you are doing the hard work of self-examination. Yep, it's OK.
Perhaps you are weary. Also OK.
The Lord sees and hears you. He hears your cries. He knows the meanings of your sighs. He understands the unspoken moan in your heart.
"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I will do...I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.'" Exodus 6:1,5
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
"As a mother comforts her child, I will comfort you." Isaiah 66:13
As you sit with whatever you are feeling, I pray that you can take all of yourself before your Creator, let your guard down, and just be real in front of him. He longs to meet with you today.
Love,
Your Friend Melana