Even in the Valley: Lent Daybook 14
Look: Oroville, Calif., Sept. 9 (2020) An orange haze hung over Lake Oroville after the Bear fire, which became part of the deadly North Complex fire, burned through the area. Max Whittaker for The New York Times - Source
Listen: Even In the Valley, The Silver Pages, feat. Mona Reeves - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 61-62; Psalm 68:1-36; Jeremiah 2:1-13; Romans 1:16-25; John 4:43-54
Excerpts:
“For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah.”
*
“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.’
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: ‘What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’ And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.
‘Therefore I still contend with you, declares the Lord, and with your children's children I will contend.
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord…’ “
*
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
*
“After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.”
*
“God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God! But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!
Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished; your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.”
-Psalm 61:5 - 62:4 * Jeremiah 2:1-9, 11-12 * Romans 1:18-24 * John 4:43-45 * Psalm 68:1-10 (ESV)
Pray: Prayer for honesty about my unresolved anger
Knowing that God loves me unconditionally, I can afford to be honest about how I am. How has the last day been, and how do I feel now? I share my feelings openly with the Lord. (Sacred Space for Lent)
Do: Spend some time journaling in response to today’s meditation.
Let this be a place you share your honest thoughts and feelings with God. Speak plainly and without qualification.
Allow yourself room to be curious about what you write. Nothing has taught me better an appropriate sense of curiosity than the practice of noticing without judgment. You can listen to some of my experiences with this practice here.
Lament in Week 2: Complaint to help us articulate our outrage
Anger as a stage of grief: “… anger is a masking effect. Anger is hiding many of the emotions and pain that you carry. This anger may be redirected at other people…Anger may mask itself in feelings like bitterness or resentment.”
How often is anger your first response to both large-scale and mundane circumstances?
What were you taught about expressing anger?
Were you told to be nice, to avoid conflict at all cost?
Have you noticed a tendency to turn your anger “inward” at yourself?
What does anger look like in your thought life?
Do you sometimes find yourself fantasizing about revenge toward someone who’s wronged you or someone you love?
Complaint as the language of lament: “…the psalms show us a way forward: how to pray angry prayers without being overcome by our anger; how to curse in context; how to hate without sinning; or, as Eugene Peterson once put it, how to ‘cuss without cussing.’” (W. David O. Taylor)
In your journal, write down a list of specific things causing you to feel frustrated or angry - recently or in your past. Spend some time listing the details as simply as possible and noticing the emotions that stir as you do. Ask God, honestly, how Jesus feels about this list. Tell God how you feel.
If journaling feels hard don’t do it. You might want to talk to God out loud as you walk or knit or do the dishes. Some of you might even form your thoughts best by crafting a playlist or painting a picture.
Trust Jesus to be with you as you retrieve the language of lament.
