Sunday reflection: a prayer of lamentation

The news is not good in the so-called Holy Land. In fact, it ranks among the unholiest of places on the planet because of the things that have been happening to people there in the past eight days, and long before that.

With so much history of conflict and oppression of different peoples over many centuries, I find it hard to know how to pray for the people caught in the midst of chaos and injustice and terrorism from all sides. 

But then I remembered a line about "putting your mouth in the dust to wait for hope," and found something like that in the 3rd chapter of the book of Lamentations. Hope is hard to find, but if you're so inclined, please pray with me for the people in this latest conflict, and for all those oppressed by violence of any kind:

46 All our enemies
    have opened their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of my people.

49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees.
51 My eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the young women in my city.

52 Those who were my enemies without cause
    have hunted me like a bird;
53 they flung me alive into a pit
    and hurled stones on me;
54 water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’

55 I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear
    to my cry for help, but give me relief!’
57 You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’

Creator God, 

be with all those who need you the most right now, 

and open the gates of heaven 

for all those whose souls suddenly need a home. 

We pray, we cry, we lament. 

Be with 

the people who live in the land 

where your child, 

Jesus, 

came to live with all of humanity, 

to show us what your loving compassion looks like.

Let loving compassion return

to the hearts of all,

we beg you.

We beg you.

We pray, we cry, we lament.

We turn our mouths to the dust,

until you give us reason to hope.

+Amen.