For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Wise Solomon once said there’s a time for every season of the soul, including sadness. Unfortunately, our culture doesn’t take the time to actually cry our pain. Sadness is sadly an emotion we want to put off, shut down, suppress rather than lean into, allow to bubble out, and embrace. But when we shed tears our body is able to let go of this emotion more fully. It’s a natural way of letting our bodies process the emotion with us – especially when we don’t have words or understandable reasons for the sadness we feel.
Our country is experiencing a wave of sadness. We’ve lost jobs, finances, precious time for human connection, security, and equality. The list goes on. If you’re not sensing some level of weight or sadness in this season, perhaps you need to let yourself feel it a little more.
Tears are a beautiful gift from God and we don’t receive this gift when we try to avoid negative emotion. God gave us an entire book of the Bible dedicated to crying, grieving, lamenting (Lamentations). Jesus exemplifies how to let the body process with the soul when John tells us, “Jesus Wept” (John 11:35). Today, the invitation is to lament with us. Join us at 4pm for a time of Lament in the Park. Little’s Creek Park.
Note: If you decide to fast with us as well, we’ll begin at 4pm as well. If you’re not able to attend, I recommend watching Jeremy Lopez’s Guided Lament.
Here is a document created by the Watchman Prayer Team to help us process the Spiritual Practice of Lament.
By Yvonne Biel
