Dear Sacramental Life community,

I'm writing to ask a favor.

Would you consider contributing a mourning story to the Retrieve Lament series during Holy Week this year?

This is the eighth year I'll be adding this series from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday, and each year I feel (and have heard from others) that God makes use of my little corner of cyberspace to encourage others through the first-hand accounts of the redemptive hope found in seasons of acute personal grief. I feel like there's so much we can learn from each other's stories of grief, particularly the sort that happens in the community of believers.

Somewhere along the decade of my thirties, I realized I needed a sturdier foundation for all the grief I saw in my own life and in the lives of people around me. I began to rely on others who could sit with me in my grief rather than try to persuade me out of it. This became the sort of value that defined my relationships. Those who welcomed me into their own suffering and shared mine became my dearest friends.

A few years ago during Lent as I researched mourning practices around the world for my submission to Christ Church's Lenten devotional, I stumbled on the words of Ranier Maria Rilke in his Requiem for a Friend:

“Once, ritual lament would have been chanted; women would have been paid to beat their breasts and howl for you all night, when all is silent. Where can we find such customs now? So many have long since disappeared or been disowned. / That’s what you had to come for: to retrieve the lament that we omitted.”

This phrase "retrieve lament" added to my understanding that part of Christ's ministry to us through His life, His Spirit and His people is to "retrieve the lament that we omitted". I count it a high privilege to know -- at least in small part -- stories of suffering several of your own lives -- illness, relational disillusionment, anxiety, joblessness, death of loved ones, death of dearly-held dreams, and more.

Your stories have helped form me in my understanding of suffering and I believe they could also encourage those who read my blog.

During Holy Week, I'd like to host at least seven guest posts fitting into the overall theme "Retrieve Lament" -- one for each day. During the past four years, I've modeled the framework from the profound way our former church in Austin gathered for their Good Friday service: one story for each of Christ's seven last words on the cross

A list of possible prompts as a starting point:

How has the family of Christ helped me to retrieve lament in a specific season of my life?
How has the Spirit of Christ energized me to help someone else retrieve lament in their own suffering?
What sort of/particular work of art or cultural practice has helped me sit with Christ and others in my grief?

If you're interested in contributing to this series, here are a few more details:

Your guest post should be approximately 500-750 words.
You are welcome to use something you've already shared in another forum
You are welcome to attach photographs and other forms of media as long as they are fully credited to their source.
You are certainly welcome -- but not obligated -- to include Scripture meditations on the Passion of Christ.
I'd need your contribution by April 1.

If you'd like to contribute, please send me a direct message or email me (tamara@tamarahillmurphy.com) and let me know if you have a preference on which day of Holy Week to share your story.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Grace, peace, love, and thanks,

Tamara

You might also appreciate the Retrieve Lament series from the past years at my blog: