Do you remember when we thought 2021 would be better? After 10 pandemic-laden months overplayed by a host of racial, political and economic woes, we looked forward to the dawn of a new calendar year. But less than two months into the freshness of a new year we have been knocked down again by a once in a hundred year storm and violence in our nation’s capital not seen in over 200 years. The cold, the emptiness, the isolation and the monotony are enough to make even the cheeriest among us give one’s soul over to despair. After all, how many times can you clean the closets and organize the shelves in the basement before you need to go to the park and share a picnic with some friends without fear of dying.

I wish I could tell you I have the answers. Or even that our faith is the balm that will carry us through. But if there was a quick fix, it would already have been found. The Bible records the angst of God’s people in the book of Psalms:

“My tears have been my food day and night…” (Ps 42)

“My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes – it has also gone from me.” (Ps 38)
“Hear my prayer, O Lord: let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress.” (Ps 102)

If the Bible has the courage to name the angst before God, then maybe it is ok for us to also articulate the troubles of our heart and of our land. Maybe in naming the pain and sadness honestly before God we can begin to see that the God of all love and hope enters right into this very place with us. During the weeks of Lent, we see again that Jesus came into our world and faced the worst that humanity had to offer. He faced rejection because of his powerful love. God came to be with us. And God still comes to be with us. No situation on earth is too great to thwart God’s companionship or halt God’s hope for humanity.

Grace and Peace,

Carla