la-ment (noun) a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. – April Karli
October 7th, 2019 | Josh Williams
Pastor April teaches on the gift of lament.
The text was the Lectionary Old Testament reading for Sunday, October 6 — Lamentions 1:1-6 & 3:19-26.
Quotes included in this week’s sermon:
“In the American Christian narrative, the stories of the dominant culture are placed front and center while stories from the margins are often ignored. As we rush toward a description of an America that is now postracial, we forget that the road to this phase is littered with dead bodies. There has been a deep and tragic loss in the American story because we have not acknowledged the reality of death. Stories remain untold or ignored in our quest to “get over” it. But in the end, we have lost an important part of who we are as a nation and as a church. We have yet to engage in a proper funeral dirge for our tainted racial history and continue to deny the deep spiritual stronghold of a nation that sought to justify slavery.”
Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament
“The lessons of lament have much to teach the world about finding healing and restoration in times of crisis or after tremendous loss. Lament is part of the healing process. Failure to lament makes it difficult to move forward when we encounter life at its worst. Lament releases the energy that is bound up in grief and regret. Ever cognizant that life will never be the same, lament makes room for life to begin again.”
Alphonetta “Alfie” Wines, Senior Pastor at Union Memorial United Methodist Church in Coolidge, TX
“Sorrow is so woven through us, so much a part of our souls, or at least any understanding of our souls that we are able to attain, that every experience is dyed with its color. This is why, even in moments of joy, part of that joy is the seams of ore that are our sorrow. They burn darkly and beautifully in the midst of joy, and they make joy the complete experience that it is. But they still burn.”
Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer
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