Reading: Mark 15
“A Prayer of Lament based on Mark 15” by Lindsay Marolf
Where are you, oh God?
Why does it feel so dark here?
Don’t you remember when triumphal shouts filled the streets?
Don’t you remember when healings happened?
Don’t you remember when sharing a meal together was meaningful?
Well, where are you now, Father?
Where have you gone?
Hour by hour my pain increases.
Hour by hour my strength decreases.
Hour by hour…until at last I am completely drained.
Oh God, where are you?
What wrong have I done?
Nothing seems good anymore.
Food isn’t even an option-
And drink tastes like vinegar.
So where are you, God?
Why have you forsaken me?
Please come back- please don’t leave me hanging.
I feel insulted, laughed at.
I have nothing left to say.
Are you gone now, God?
Did the darkness drive you away?
God… my body can’t take it anymore.
My lips are full of helpless cries.
I have to let go.
And yet…
As I feel torn into two- from top to bottom,
I realize that you are in fact who you said you are.
As I come down from the heights of pain,
I realize it is you who wraps me tightly and lays me down to rest.
As I curl up and am placed in my dark hole,
I realize that you see where I am hidden.
And I realize…
Maybe you yourself were present in the darkness.
Maybe you yourself were also left hanging.
Maybe as I was torn apart,
you were too.
Maybe as I let go,
you let me fall into you – darkness and all.
Maybe as I yelled in anguish about your absence, you heard.
And you stayed near me.
Maybe as I remain and wait in the darkness,
you remain and wait with me.
And maybe, just maybe, you are setting me up for resurrection after all.