The season of Lent is almost here.
And this year it’s coming at a rough time in northern Virginia. A large proportion of the population here is federal workers and federal contractors. And they’re suddenly losing their jobs, or at the very least losing their coworkers. Many who aren’t in that category themselves have family members who are. Every single person who lives in this area knows people affected by this chaos and turmoil.
I didn’t grow up in churches that observed Lent, but even the more conservative church I joined eighteen years ago had an Ash Wednesday service, and now it’s an important part of services at the United Methodist Church I attend. As I understand it, Lent is a time of self-reflection and confession in preparation for Easter.
And it seems like a good time to think about Laments.
I wrote a book called Praying with the Psalmists that takes the reader through the entire book of Psalms in 12 weeks. My full manuscript for that book is currently being considered by an agent – so instead of dithering and spinning my wheels as to what she might be thinking about it, I’ve decided to start on my next book. And I decided a wonderful follow-up will be Laments for Lent. [I know that title won’t necessarily attract readers – most people aren’t as enamored with Laments as I am. So I’m trying to come up with a good subtitle – if you have any ideas, post them in the comments!]
I love the Laments in Psalms, which may come as a surprise to folks not familiar with them. Here’s the thing: Laments prove that God can handle our pain. Laments prove that we don’t have to always wear a happy face when we approach God in prayer.
But besides that, Laments are surprisingly faith-building, surprisingly full of trust. The Laments in Scripture follow a specific form – and the form itself includes reminders that, though times are hard, we really do trust God. In fact, a large number finish off by visualizing how happy they’re going to be when God acts.
So – Laments seem all the more appropriate for this time we find ourselves in. So much is going wrong, it’s hard to keep track of it all. And going through the parts of a Lament during this Lenten season I hope will help me bring the troubles before God and encourage me at the same time. And I hope that sharing these thoughts will help others, too.
My plan for the book Laments for Lent is a smaller scope than Praying with the Psalmists. I’m thinking it will be a series of daily devotionals for the 40 days of Lent plus Sundays, and each day we’ll look at one of the Laments or Psalms of Confession. And each week we’ll look at a different part of a Lament and think about opening our own hearts to God.
For the blog series, I’m not going to post daily, but I would like to post weekly. I’m thinking sort of a rough draft/initial plan for what the book will be about, sketching out the themes I’ll hit with each week’s devotionals. I’m going to try to post every Sunday during Lent, and by the end I should have an idea if I’ve really got enough to say for a book. I’m also hoping I’ll get plenty of comments and feedback to direct that project.
And this introductory post has gotten longer than I intended – I was going to lead right into an Ash Wednesday post. But why don’t I leave this as an introduction and I’ll come back for Ash Wednesday, beginning with words from Psalms.