“I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end…
Psalms and Prayers for Times of War
How can we pray in times of war? Sadly, this question is always relevant because, on this side of eternity, war is always with us. Jesus himself reminds us that, before his second coming, there will be “wars and rumors of wars” and that “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 25:6-7),…
Once More with Feeling: Recovering the Joy of Godly Lament
Ours is an age of happy-clappy religion in which everyone thinks that true spirituality is marked by Cheshire grins and saccharine clichés. But this isn’t Christianity, it’s a caricature. It is little more than Stoicism with a toothy facade painted onto it. Christianity grew from the fertile soil of Judaism, with its rich tradition of…
Finding a Place for Lament in the Anglican Church
Born a little on the melancholy side, I was always attracted to the bleaker parts of Scripture. You know, the parts where a prophet would cry out to God for help, or where God would lament the betrayal of His bride. Or the psalms of lament where the psalmist feels desperate and horrifically abandoned. These…
