This week in our bible study, we explored the theme of lament. Lament prayers are found throughout the Bible. These prayers address God and express a particular grief about the world around us. They act God to act and express hope in the possibility of God’s action in the midst of human suffering. I wrote a lament prayer drawn from the words and feelings of those present at the bible study. I hope it can express a little of what our beloved community is enduring right now:

Lament for Parkview

How long, O Lord?
How long must we be scattered?
Our elders are cut off and alone;
We call and get no answer.
Our youth are uprooted from the lives they knew.
Everything has changed.
We miss the faces and voices of friends,
When it’s time to come home,
Who will come home?
And who will be gone?
Will it ever be the same?
We are afraid;
Worry fills us from our feet to our head.
In our sleep we toss and turn with images
Of being together again
But we are reminded of the danger.
How can we open our doors again?

How long must we wait?
We are detached from the familiar places and faces
We are detached from ourselves
Who are we now that we are alone?
What if this goes on for weeks?
Or months?
Or years?
What if things are never the same again?
We don’t know what the future holds.
But you remind us, O Lord, that you hold the future.
You remind us that we are not alone.
Raise us up to be your people,
Surround us and fill us with your Spirit.
Renew our hearts once again
To put our trust in You.
Join our hearts together in one Spirit
So that even when we are apart, we are never alone. Amen.