MONITE NOVEMA 20, 2023
HOW!
‘OIAUE!
LAMENTATIONS 1:1
HOW LONELY SITS THE CITY THAT WAS FULL OF PEOPLE HOW LIKE A WIDOW HAS SHE BECOME. SHE WHO WAS GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS! SHE WHO WAS A PRINCESS AMONG THE PROVINCES HAS BECOME A SLAVE.
TANGILAULAU 1:1
1 ‘OIAUĒ si‘i nofo li‘aki ‘a e fefine ni, ‘A e kolo na‘e fonu kakai! Si‘ene hoko ko e uitou tofu pē! ‘A ia na‘e fotu ‘i he ngaahi pule‘anga, Si‘i toko taha na‘e fine‘eiki ‘aki ‘e he ngaahi vahefonua, Kuo ne hoko ko e tali fatongia!
The Hebrew name for Lamentations is Eykańn, its opening word (also in 2:1; 4:1-2). But our ears should probably hear this word elongated into Eykaaaah! It's a gut-wrenching wail stretched on the rack of ruin. Tears become ink in this book, penned with cruciform calligraphy. Translating Eykah as "How just seems too bland. The word needs to burn the mouth as it's spoken, baptizing the tongue with ashes, for it erupts from a heart torched by grief. Alas, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the princess now slave, the wife now widow, the living now coffined city of God. Every ninth of Ab (Tisha B'Au), Jews around the world sing the words of this book to remember Jerusalem's past destructions. The poetry of this ancient song limps on and on.
This book is just as important for what it says as for what it's very existence shows: that God's ears and heart are open to lament. We are given permission-indeed, the blessing-to weep, wail, and moan our way toward healing. Faith necessitates no stiff upper lip. Jesus wept. So do we. While we grieve, our Lord of love will never walk away.
"Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old" (Lam. 5:21).
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