Lament

How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Luke 13:24

In tomorrow’s gospel reading, Jesus laments his situation, laying bare his heart before God and the people, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”  Jesus offers compassion and mercy to others, healing the unworthy, the sick, and the outcast, curing people of their afflictions, liberating them from injustice, and calling them back into community. These people, the people of Jerusalem, the ones who are most open to Jesus’ message, ultimately refuse him. How alone Jesus must have felt.

Have you railed against God, offering your honest complaint in plain language? “I am tired of being sick, I am tired of people not listening to me, I am angry that this is happening. Where are you, God?”

God can take your complaints. Even more, God earnestly desires your honesty. God desires to gather you as a hen gathers her brood her wings. God desires your well-being and wants you to show up in this world. Be honest with God.

Lament can be generative. Through lament, we are saying that the world is not as it should be. The world is not right. There is a better way. Lament can open our eyes to new possibilities, give us energy, and help us imagine a way forward together.

Want to complain to God? Do it! Lament. You will be joining the prophets and Jesus in honest speech to God.