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"Lament is not always quiet. Lament is also a complaint that things are not the way God intended them to be. The Psalm writers shout at God, 'Listen! Remember! Vindicate! Save!' Our laments need to be fully voiced in protest and not denied or swept under the rug. "
When was the last time you gave yourself permission to lament?
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Lament Psalm Twenty Seven by Ann Weems
O God of my heart, it is your name I call when the stars do not come out. O God of my soul, it is to you I turn when the torrents of terror drown me. O God of mercy, it is for your hand I reach when I stumble on the stones of sorrow. O God of justice, it is to you I cry when the landslide of grief buries me. I stand beneath the night where the stars used to shine and remember gazing mesmerized at the luminaries of the sky until I could walk the ink-blue beach between their shining. Then their shining stopped, for they left the sky, and you, O God, left with them. And I am left alone beneath a starless sky with a starless heart that barely beats. Will your stars never shine again? Will they never again speak of your mystery? Will they never again sing their songs to my soul? Will I never again know the wonder of the God of star and sky? O God of my heart, peel back the night and let the starlight pour out upon my upturned face. Let my eyes drink a sky of stars. Let my heart bathe in the stunning light until my soul sings again with the conviction of the faithful. In your mercy and justice, O God of my heart, call me by name, and the stars will shine once more, As they did on that morning when they first began to sing.
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This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Ellen Robison. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms and Delican't by Podington Bear, The First Person Awake by Will Bangs, and Consider the Stars by Keith & Kristyn Getty.
Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all five seasons of Be Still and Go.
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