When the World Breaks (Lamentations)

Has your world ever broken? If it has, what did you do? In 586 BCE, the Babylonian Empire, conquered all of what was left of Israel. Jerusalem, was destroyed, burned to the ground, along with the great temple that King Solomon had built.  It’s one thing to read about a death in an obituary. But the book of Lamentations is like going to the funeral and hearing the sobs and songs of an entire people, collectively grieving the death of their capital and their country. When our world breaks, we have this impulse to pull away from others—to bury our feelings rather than be honest about them. When the world breaks, we’re still suckers for quick fixes. Easy answers and cheap promises. Instead, the prophet Jeremiah encourages us to lament. To cry out in our moment of great need. Lament is grief shared. We may be tempted to bear life alone, but lament offers another way. We’re encouraged to bring it all to God, our only hope for ultimate deliverance and justice, and pray, “We need you, Lord! Come!”