The prompt word for July 4th at Fandango’s This, That, and The Other is ‘lament.’
Thank you, good sir.
Today’s word is “lament.” Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Immediately I’m whisked to a book that sits on my bookshelf:
“You Are What You Think” by David Stoop; Theologian, Ph. D.
At the beginning of the book, you’ll encounter an exceptionally great section that talks
about a debilitating problem that a brother named Jeremiah is afflicted with: a lamentation.
In this article, I take a slight twist on the prompt, as I wish to use the example in that book to explore the topic/prompt.
People who read the Bible are probably familiar with Jeremiah, but if you’re not one of them, let me tell you about him, though many of us are like Jeremiah or might know someone who fits the bill.
So, for a few minutes, allow me to quote you from the Book of Lamentations (like David Stoop does in his book) as I add my penny’s worth of thoughts after the verses. See if you recognize someone you know in Jeremiah.
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His (God’s) wrath; He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me, He turns His hand, again and again, the whole day long. Verse 1–3
What misery at the onset! But it continues with verses 4–6 here:
He has made my flesh and my skin waste away and broken my bones. He has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; He has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.
Can you feel his body ache in the above verses? I’m sure you can. And Jeremiah has
someone to blame for that…
He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; He has put heavy chains on me; though I cry and call for help, He shuts out my prayer; He has blocked my ways with hewn stones, He has made my paths crooked. Verses 7–9
Poor Jeremiah. Here, I can feel how Jeremiah feels trapped by Him? *sigh* His symptoms continue to plague him. Read on.
He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding; He led me off my way and tore me to pieces; He has made me desolate; He bent His bow and set me as a mark for His arrow. He drove into my heart the arrows of His quiver; I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the burden of their songs all day long. He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood. Verses 10–15
Oh, my heart! This is frightening to me. Can you feel how Jeremiah is afraid now? I’m scared about what he says, how hopeless this all sounds for him, for any one of us. He also sounds a little paranoid. I feel bad for the poor brother.
He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is. Verses 16–17.
Forgotten?! He has forgotten what happiness feels like. The thought of forgetting something like that– my heart hurts. Are you feeling sad for him now?
So I say, “Gone is my glory and my expectation from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my bitterness, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually thinks of it and my soul is bowed down within me. Verses 18-20
In these verses 18–20, he is wallowing. And I feel he wants for us to wallow with him. He wants us to see his misery as he sees it. I’m curious. Would you share with me how this section spoke to you? In the comments, please. Good– on to the rest we go then.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. Verse 21.
Alleluia!
Wait, I need to insert an Alleluia right about here on verse 21 because I think I sense a change in the horizon. Noteworthy are the verses above this one, particularly at the end of verses 18–20, where Jeremiah mentions his soul’s condition. “My soul thinks; my soul bowed down,” he says there. You sense it too? Good, right? Let’s continue.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” Verses 22–24
How exhausting!
No doubt Jeremiah was being honest about what he was feeling but, really, what we went through here are the thoughts that were going on in his head, his reality at the time. His thoughts created his emotions! Gosh! See how destructive our thoughts can be?
The emotional consequences of any event are not created by that event. The consequences are created by your belief systems; Self-Talk. It is Self-Talk that explains why someone can experience inner rest and peace in the midst of wrenching experiences; the reason a person can ignore all positive events and focus on a worry and become miserable. Thoughts create emotions! — David Stoop: Masters of Theology, Ph.D.
Um, Jeremiah’s problem, as related above, sounds like the kind of self-talk we have some days.
Exhausting is how I find all this. But the good news is that we could wallow
in mental misery like Jeremiah or be objective and look instead at the positives
in our lives.
Yes, we have the right to lament; that choice is ours to keep. But please, let’s not forget
that is not the only choice we have. For our minds are like faithful puppies that follow us everywhere. Feed it good thoughts and watch your perspective on life go in a different direction.
Proverbs 23:7 — as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
And when those terrible thoughts come calling, tell it what the woman in the lovely Pixabay photo says. Here’s looking at you.
(disclaimer: it is not my intention to downplay the illness. I’m not qualified to offer medical advice or the like. But I’m sure there are qualified people who can.)
Photo: Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
Thanks so much for reading.
And as always, I wish you miracles.
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