After writing about joy last week, I would be dishonest if I didn’t mention that this holiday season can be more difficult for some because of loss, pain, abuse, injustice, and oppression. Grief may mark these days because of the loss of a close friend, spouse, or family member or because of the memories of an unhealthy and traumatic previous life
Because we all come to this holiday and winter season with an untold amount of emotional, social, and spiritual baggage, some church communities offer a longest night or blue Christmas service on December 21 or 22, the longest nights or shortest days of the year. Sometimes we are tempted to believe that the faster that we go, the more gifts that we buy, the more gatherings or meals that we plan, the more Christmas cards that we send out, or the more activities that we commit to, we will be able to push the grief, pain, memory, loneliness, longing, or desire deeper inside of us. But, as Christians, we celebrate that the God of the Hebrew people in Jesus came this time of year into the dark places to visit people who had lost hope of a different kind of world, so we follow God’s example in carrying the light of hope, peace, love, and joy into the dark places of our experience and our world today.
Can you imagine feeling your deepest feelings today, maybe some that you have worked so hard to suppress? For others, maybe you can’t help but feel them. The loss of a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend can seem like the end of living for us, too. A humiliating comment meant to hurt, a conflict or disagreement with those whom we care for, a rumor that spreads faster than the truth can all leave even our brightest days dark and gloomy. In the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament of the Bible), the communal practice of lament for the nation of Israel was one opportunity for people to feel all of the feelings, ask all of the questions, and express their undeniable frustrations, hopelessness, grief, and trauma. The hardest questions were often expressed. In the Hebrew book of Malachi, the people ask, “Where is the God of Justice?” In the Psalms, the writer asks why God has abandoned or forsaken him or her (Psalm 22:1). In the book of Job, the author tells God that God has been cruel to him (30:20).
Maybe what some of us need this holiday season is some space to lament. Can you imagine that space in the midst of the schedule ahead of you this Christmas week? If you have some space, take a few moments and express those deepest feelings and longings to our creator, no words are too harsh, no question too difficult. God is listening intently to all of the words, spoken and unspoken, in love.
The above article was published in the Courier, our local Freeman newspaper, on December 23, 2021 here: https://newzgroup.com/SDArchive/455053/2021-12-22/455053_12.23_.21FC_.Page9B_.pdf
You can check out the Courier website here: https://www.freemansd.com/
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