Lenten Daily Reflection 2020-04-06
Lamentations 1:1-2
How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become a vassal.
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her enemies.
How lonely sits the city that was once full of people. Wow. So I’ve been trying to spend as much time outside with my family as possible because everyone seems to benefit from the space and the unconfined feeling. So during this time it means the yard. Our dog is very happy as she spends her time “hunting” for squirrels. The rest of us play, dig up weeds, bask in the sun, and chat with neighbors and friends when they pass by. We stand 6 feet apart, across the fence from each other and grouse, commiserate, share updates and look for some silver linings in this experience. This a very important part of being outside—remembering that there are people out there. All the while the stream of ambulance sirens remind us that we aren’t just a happy family playing soccer in the yard. We are folks living in a global pandemic that will leave marks on all of us. The strangeness of the joy of being outside in the sun and the general feeling of something is closing in on us live side by side. We are people who are faithful, fearful and asking for God’s help.
I like the way the author of Lamentations personifies the city itself. I wonder what personified New York would be doing right now. Probably weeping. I wonder if boastful New York has anyone to comfort her? I wonder if she would accept help if she were offered any—she strikes me as someone who likes to be able to go it alone. But maybe now in this time, she sees how none of us can go it alone.
I’m very grateful for God right now. This morning during the reading of the passion I kept getting chills listening, feeling the reading was newly alive for me. I could connect in new and different ways to understanding what Jesus did for all of us and how God loves us.