Just like today’s psalmist who sees life’s threats as real and laments them, Jesus laments!  And just like the psalmist, he finds strength and takes courage and stays in his heart…in his ministry…in his call.  Breathtaking! 
          Maybe saying out loud these few sentences of lament, releasing sadness and stress, is what gives him the courage to stay in his heart.  What are your real laments?  Will you say them out loud?  They just may lead you back to the courage that’s awaiting you in your heart….releasing passion and compassion.
              Passion is anger’s/sadness’ better side….it’s anger’s energy released and recycled to do good.  Maybe to find your passion you have to go through your anger and lament the loss, frustration, unfairness, before you can boldly move forward in faith and life.  What do you think?
          Lament is an important aspect not only of Biblical literature but of faithful living.  There’s no need to pretend!  What a waste of energy!  Why hold your breath or live out of breath?  Lament is not whining and complaining!  It is a trust in God’s love so profound you can be honest with all of your feelings, crying out to God in pain, fear, frustration—even anger.  Calm in the reality God hears your cries and is with you…in fact doing something right now beyond what you can know or understand.  Whining and complaining is spinning your well, avoiding the truth.  Lament embraces truth and spirals us forward into our faith.

So wait for the Lord!  Slow down, catch your breath, slow down so God can catch up to you and guide you.  Slow down so you can think!  Take heart. Don’t, like many a drowning person, push away the very one who has come to rescue you! What are the things in your life that cause you to lament? Where are the places and who are the people who can shelter you while you gather yourself up and take heart?
           What it is you, like Jesus, must do even knowing what you know?  …maybe exactly because you know what you know! God calls us to deep purposes, deep breathing.  God is breath, God is our life!  It is not easy to keep breathing in the face of a culture that takes our breath away from us.  It takes courage…hope energized…a courage that comes from powerful love….God’s to you and yours for yourself and others!  A love so strong it sees clearly and has to respond and will not leave you breathless….
            It is a dangerous world.  You are not in a faith crisis…you are in a trust of world crisis.  And it requires some creative thinking and strong community to be able to provide compassionate ministry to each other and into the world. But this is not a new thing!  And you are not asked to do it alone. In fact, you need not worry about how to keep breathing, be brave, stop all that’s going wrong, fix what is wrong.

All you are asked to do is to let yourself be gathered under God’s wing. All you are asked to do is to breath in love’s courage. 
              If you find the love place in your heart, it is amazing what courage awaits you there…to say things you would never have said before, to make choices you have not yet been able to make, to look inward rather than focusing outward, to judge less, to be less afraid of the new reality God offers.

So….Breathe.  Breathe in of love’s courage.  It is amazing how different your life looks as you breath self awareness and courage and release…to breath again…refreshed and energized by breath’s simplicity and clarity.
           I will read this verse as part of the scripture.  After you hear it (about half way through the reading), please read the verse in a lamenting, loud, wailing voice in the order indicated by the number on your sheet:

Number: ________
               “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
             I will read this verse as part of the scripture.  After you hear it (about half way through the reading), please read the verse in a lamenting, loud, wailing voice in the order indicated by the number on your sheet:

Number: ________
        “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
          I will read this verse as part of the scripture.  After you hear it (about half way through the reading), please read the verse in a lamenting, loud, wailing voice in the order indicated by the number on your sheet:

 Number: ________
         “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
          I will read this verse as part of the scripture.  After you hear it (about half way through the reading), please read the verse in a lamenting, loud, wailing voice in the order indicated by the number on your sheet:

 Number: ________
       “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”