Contraction and release: a language of pain
Contraction and release: a language of pain. My language of pain. I didn’t have one before. My emotions have been locked up inside my body for a long, long time. Ever since I was...
Author: Helen Redfern
The ongoing story
So we have finished the Book of Lamentations, but the need and opportunities to find expression for grief are far from over. Learning to lament is an ongoing story. We carry hurt with us...
And finally…
Today we reach the end of the book of Lamentations. I’m not great with endings. If the book ends with everything all sorted out and every loose end tied up, then I’m mad because...
Just stop and look and really see
Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. We have lost everything. Everything we have worked for. Our homes. Our land. Our inheritance. It’s all gone. Remember, Lord, what has...
Unbelievable
The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the peoples of the world, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. Lamentations 4:12 It’s unbelievable. This can’t be...
All that used to matter doesn’t matter any more
I used to care about pretty things. About gold and silver and shining jewels. I used to take pleasure in nice things. In handbags and shoes and Pandora charms. I don’t care about any...
Poem 3 Part 3: Affirmations
God is God and God is Love Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. To crush...
Poem 3 Part 2: Hope
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:...
Poem 3 Part 1: Abandoned by God
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his...
When bad things happen…
When bad things happen, you have lots of questions and no answers… What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I...
