GOD on Mute Part 2

In his book GOD on Mute, Pete Greig spends time on “Learning to Lament (p. 82).” Grieg goes on and asks the question “Where, I wonder, is the mystery and the mess of biblical spirituality? What place is there in our happy-clappy culture for the disturbing message of books such as Ecclesiastes, Lamentations and Job?”

In our community of faith we have this thing called Refuge: a concept that there are some people who need to HIDE because the storms of life have been so vicious. They need a place where they can find safety, maybe connect with GOD on a different level or connect with a community of people who have been through it as well. I often wonder if it is in that safety where lament takes place?

Lament…..means:
To fell or express sorrow or regret for:
To mourn for or over
To feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret
To mourn deeply

Greig writes “Lamenting is more than a technique for venting emotion. It is one of the fruits of a deepening spiritual life that has learned to stand naked before God without shame or pretense. In fact, long before Gethsemane, Jesus Himself has pronounced that those who mourn are blessed (See Matt. 5:4)! “Implicit in this statement,” notes Walter Brueggemann, “is that those who do not mourn will not be comforted and those who do not face the endings will not receive the beginnings.” Honest lament can express a vibrant faith; one that has learned to embrace life’s hardships as well as its joy and to lift everything – everything- to the Father in prayer. As the author Richard Foster says of the lament psalms, “They give us permission to shake our fist at God one moment and break into doxology the next.” (p. 85)

Thoughts?