Lament for Our Time
O Broken One, it is on this Good Friday that we come to you, in our frailty, in our collective illness, in our shame, and in dire need. Never before have we needed you now as they needed you when, pursued by Pharoah’s army on a moonlit night and headed directly to the deep sea before them; you parts the waters. We cannot cross this violent river alone. Too many have already been pulled under by the tides of this virus. We stand at the shore in our helplessness afraid. We are stripped of our confidence in the way things were, in our smugly coveted independence. We mask our faces and fear the other more now than the hate groups that have risen up, more now than the global political unrest. With our eyes we question: “Are you the one? the one who will infect me?” and avert our eyes.
Help us O Lord, for your mercy is great,
your compassion is sacrificial
your presence is RIGHT HERE.
L: Lord have mercy.
R: Christ have mercy.
L: Lord have mercy. Gracious God, deliver us
R: from our fear of the stranger, from the fear of our breath, from the fear of a sneeze.
L: Lord have mercy, gracious God deliver us
R: from our anger at incompetence, our yearning for leadership
L: Lord have mercy, gracious God deliver us
R: from our blame of others, the shame to ourselves, and all expectations
L: Lord have mercy, gracious God deliver us
R: from our hunger for connection and living lives on the ether
L: Lord have mercy, gracious God deliver us
R: from having cast our eyes downward to a screen for so long that when our eyes are open, it is painful to see
L: Lord have mercy, gracious God deliver us
R: from grabbing, hoarding and abandoning the other
L: In humility let us speak of our newly discovered thanks
R: for fresher air
L: for cleansing wipes
R: for hand sanitizer
L: and soap and water
R: and Italians singing from balconies
L: and New Yorkers lighting lights
R: for internet and Zoom
L: for classrooms and offices in our homes
R: for family time
L: for board games
R: and 1000 piece puzzles
L: for text messages
R: for talking on the phone
L: for shared recipes
R: for Passover and Holy Week
L: for redemption
R: and hope
L: to be redeemed once more.
Forgive our government, they do not know what they are doing. Let us trust one another again and trust in you once more. Wipe away our sins and our viruses and infections and free us once again… but
Help us to remember our families together, our appreciation for those who work hard in order for a country to operate. Help us recover in every way from this tsunami of suffering and stand with our feet firmly in faith, that you have not forsaken us, you will not depart from us, you have not sighed, shrugged and walked away.
For you said to Moses that your name is I AM and I AM has come to be with us in this very breath, that we no longer assume, is taken by us alone. Be this breath, this close. It is by faith, in faith with grace and all mercy, all honor is yours God Almighty, creator, redeemer and sanctifier of the whole world, of you, of me, forever.
AMEN.
Revvin' it Up 