Day 22 - Lament for the Weary

Artwork by Grace Park

Today’s Reading

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
   and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
   and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
   and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
   strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
   and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
   therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

صلاة لحبقوق النبي على الشجويّة
ا رب قد سمعت خبرك فجزعت. يا رب عملك في وسط السنين أحيه. في وسط السنين عرّف. في الغضب اذكر الرحمة
الله جاء من تيمان والقدوس من جبل فاران. سلاه. جلاله غطى السموات والارض امتلأت من تسبيحه.
وكان لمعان كالنور. له من يده شعاع وهناك استتار قدرته.

—ﺣﺒﻘﻮﻕ Habakkuk 3:1

My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?
   Why are you so far from saving us,
   so far from our cries of anguish?
My God, we cry out by day, but you do not answer,
   by night, but we find no rest
–Psalm 22:1-2

I am a rose of Sharon
a lily of the valleys.
나는 사론의 [a]장미요 골짜기의 백합화라네.
–아가 Song of Solomon 2:1

Reflection

There are few words to exude the deep sorrow and lament that come out of seeing a continuous barrage of gun-violence related news across the news headlines and our daily lives.

We grieve for the Muslim brothers and sisters in Christchurch, New Zealand that have lost so many vibrant souls. We mourn with and for our youth and parents struggling with the aftermath of senseless violence.

I want to hold space at Diverging today for the breadth of emotions we as a community are experiencing in remembrance and honor of lives cut short by gun violence. For Pulse, Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Christchurch, and so many more places we cannot even begin to name, we mourn and we lament. Weseek justice for survivors of gun violence, Islamophobia, homophobia, and white supremacy terrorist attacks.

As the flowers start to bud in places where there is spring, we cry the same for justice-- to rise and overturn the dry and weary land where we lay our lament.