Consider the Stars (Rev. Ellen Robison)

“Lament is not always quiet. Lament is also a complaint that things are not the way God intended them to be. The Psalm writers shout at God, ‘Listen! Remember! Vindicate! Save!’ Our laments need to be fully voiced in protest and not denied or swept under the rug. ”

When was the last time you gave yourself permission to lament?

Lament Psalm Twenty Seven by Ann Weems

O God of my heart,
it is your name I call
when the stars do not come out.
O God of my soul,
it is to you I turn
when the torrents of terror
drown me.
O God of mercy,
it is for your hand I reach
when I stumble
on the stones of sorrow.
O God of justice,
it is to you I cry
when the landslide of grief
buries me.

I stand beneath the night
where the stars used to shine
and remember
gazing mesmerized
at the luminaries of the sky
until I could walk
the ink-blue beach
between their shining.
Then their shining stopped,
for they left the sky,
and you, O God,
left with them.

And I am left
alone
beneath a starless sky
with a starless heart
that barely beats.

Will your stars
never shine again?
Will they never again
speak of your mystery?
Will they never again sing
their songs
to my soul?
Will I never again know
the wonder
of the God
of star and sky?

O God of my heart,
peel back the night
and let the starlight
pour out upon
my upturned face.
Let my eyes drink
a sky of stars.
Let my heart bathe
in the stunning light
until my soul sings again
with the conviction
of the faithful.

In your mercy and justice,
O God of my heart,
call me by name,
and the stars will shine
once more,
As they did
on that morning
when they first began
to sing.

This episode was written and recorded by Rev. Ellen Robison. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms and Delican’t by Podington Bear, The First Person Awake by Will Bangs, and Consider the Stars by Keith & Kristyn Getty.

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