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Written by Pastor Abby Davidson

Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly. ~Psalm 102:1-2

The spirit of the Christmas season calls us to rejoice but it also calls us to lament. A lament is a prayer brought to God out of deep sorrow. It’s not a common practice in the church but throughout the Bible we see many examples of people lamenting, including an entire book of laments – the book of Lamentations. The truth is we don’t always feel joyful at Christmas and that’s okay. During those times we are free to bring our struggles to God.

Last Sunday you heard Laura read an Advent Lament during the service. The spoken word poem was adapted from A Brave Merry Christmas by Ann Voskamp and Amena Brown. If you missed Sunday or would like to hear it again, click on the link below. Here’s a snippet of the piece:

So they just keep saying it’s the most wonderful time of the year,

sing hymns lively in all the malls and through all the airport terminals,

like they forget that we’re all terminal,

forget that we’re all grieving,

forget that we’ve got people we love fighting,

fighting each other and fighting cancer under blinking, twinkly lights

by these radios that just keep spinning

all these Christmas tunes that can seem all out of tune

to the howl of our pain over this year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wvBtI5Sess

As you prepare for Christmas with rejoicing or lamenting or both, be reminded that God is with you in your joy and in your sorrow.