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Lent 2025: March 16

 My text for Lent this year (since there are really no direct Biblical texts for a tradition like this).is the book on lament psalms by Mark Vroegop. The chapter I read today asked, essentially, why we don't lament at funerals.  The rest of the world does. 

Yes, we do not sorrow as others who have no hope. I would like to know the original Greek on that to know if it is saying we do not sorrow period or we do not sorrow like the hopeless.  That's a big difference.  I am perplexed as to where we go this "happy all the time" evangelical mindset, where we have to race through any recognition that people are grieving, sorrowing, struggling, in pain, in doubt of God's direction, to get through to "hey, it's all fine, all good, I'm good, I don't want to bother anybody with my grief and heaven knows I don't want to be bothered by yours."

In other words, why are we so blasted shallow? (I wanted to use damn there, I really did. I think I just did.)

I have two widows, youngish women, in my life group class. One of them confessed to not understanding why God took her husband at a young age, and why she struggles with it.  I want more of that.  I want more honesty.  

We have hope, the grandest of all, but we are never commanded to ignore pain and grief in the body of Christ.  

Lent is a time for lament. Yes, over our seemingly petty sins (and there is no such thing as petty sins) but also over the darkness in this world. 

We are supposed to get bad weather today. At 9:30 a.m. it's like dusk outside. I feel the darkness that is here. We are seeing it in our leadership. Trump tried to appease Putin, and got slapped like the fool he is. It feels a bit like THE LORD OF THE RINGS. 

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