The depths

Psalm 130 (NRSV)

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
LORD, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the LORD
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!

For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities. 

One of the hardest lessons I think that a parent can teach a child is that suffering and pain and heartache are part of the rhythm of life.  When they are little you want to simply take the pain away. And as they get older, that instinct doesn't go away.  But you know that you can't.

There comes a time when you know that all you can do is give them your attention and sit with them in their suffering.  Take their hand, cry with them, hold them and wait for them to move through the valley and get to the other side.  Knowing however that they are not alone as they get to the other side.

It is no different for friends and loved ones.  When someone sits with suffering or tragedy or illness or depression, it is sometimes tempting to offer a pithy saying that you hope comforts:  "God did this for a reason" or "God will make this alright."

But that isn't the message the Psalmist gives us.  One of the reasons the Psalms can be so powerful is their unvarnished truth about the reality of the human condition.  And here the Psalmist contends that suffering is not alright.  Sometimes all we can do is wait and hope and live in the knowledge that though it is not alright, we can ask God to pay attention and wait with us until the morning comes.

 God of compassion, sit with me when I am in the depths.  Comfort me and keep me fast.  And give me the compassion to be able to sit with those I love when they are in their depths as well:  to cry with them and to be with them and give them my full attention.  Amen.