What comes next will not be a return to what was. What comes next will be a transition period, a time of figuring out the new normal. Transitions by definition mean change, and change, even positive change, brings stress. In the coming weeks when the flowering world signals one message but your soul feels another, remember God’s gift of the Lament and let your holy tears join the rain of the season. Both bring welcomed growth.
As the U.S. comes to the end of its first year managing the pandemic, I hear frustration among preachers with each other. The source of tension? A disagreement about the best ratio between preaching lament and joy. To all preachers everywhere, I say: Yes. There is the need for lament, and there is the need for joy. And if we’re not sure about the best ratio, and if we’re feeling a little suspicious of our colleagues who tip a bit more toward one side than the other, then our parishioners are probably feeling the same way about each other—and us.
I never could have known this treatise on grief would be released in the midst of a pandemic. I could not have foreseen just how dramatically the ways of life we’ve always taken for granted would shift almost overnight. The lessons are keenly relevant to our new reality, and I want to share a few as you grapple with how to support not only your congregations but also your own spirit in the weeks and months to come.
