Apr 17, 2013 | lament, news, peace
Let us wail in repentance and quickly; Let us submit to sackcloth and appeal to God; Let us not dry our tears but rather confess that we have cried for Boston, not Bangalore or Aleppo; we have mourned the deaths of white children but kept silent while brown &...
Apr 16, 2013 | lament, nature, news
Sadly, prayers of lament can be used more than once. I reworked this lament in the wake of yesterday’s nightmare in Boston: Don’t ask the crocus, “Where is God?” as though the crocus can respond to our cries echoing over the flower beds. The...
Feb 20, 2013 | Lent, news, prayer
We are hurting, O my God, how we are hurting! See there: the mother mourning, the women protesting, the lives torn apart by war, the man facing his own death; the rage that consumes us and the conveniences we consume; the fears that send us to our guns, the deaths we...
Jan 2, 2013 | justice, news, prayer
Most of all, O LORD, forgive us… for we have not learned the lessons of last year, let alone the lessons of our histories, and we are still aiming for the holy grail of self-preservation to the neglect of loving our neighbors. Most of all, O LORD, be full of...
Dec 28, 2012 | lament, news, theodicy
Don’t ask the snow “Where is God?” as though the snow can respond to your cries echoing over its white crust. The snow has done its best to disguise the traces of your violence and hatred; its job is not to soothe your conscience. Don’t...
Dec 16, 2012 | Advent, nature, news, psalm, theodicy
Will the dawn bring good news? Will the birds with their morning song bring an encouraging report to my ears? Will the frost be found to have serenely blanketed yesterday’s pain so that, in fact, it is erased and undone? Alas, no. See there: the wounds of our...
