How Long, O Lord?

How Long O Lord
Marcia Hinds 

"If last week awakened our longing for the universal shalom of God with all its contentment and joy, this week moves in the other direction. Now we let ourselves see and feel all that is wrong and woeful in our world and in our lives.

[ Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Tax Dollars Fund Child Sex Slavery in Afghanistan | End Human Trafficking |. humantrafficking.change.org ] 

Around us we see greed and drivenness. 

[ While Wal-Mart will also be offering 150 online-only specials from Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving Day, you may want to check out Amazon before you make any purchases.  Wal-Mart is only offering price matching on in-store purchases, but Amazon has already vowed to match competitors' prices online. ]  

In the news during these days of 'peace on earth, good will to all,' the ironies abound: war, poverty, violence, political machinations, and disease. 

[ Violent protests, ignited by preliminary presidential election results that were widely considered suspect, shut down this troubled country on Wednesday and threatened the fragile stability that has held since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. ] 

Our own vulnerabilities and temptations are heightened as well: loneliness, depression, addiction, materialism. 

[ I am community starved. This is one of the thoughts that leaves my heart aching. It draws my hands  to my face. And before I realize it I’m silently, violently crying out, pondering thoughts of rejection and feelings of inadequacies....The Dory Down Parka from Lands End. Originally $129.50. Purchased today for $67.50.  Also, these bad boys from L.L. Bean are on my Christmas wish list. I hope Santa reads blogs. ] 

So we groan within ourselves, 'How long, O Lord, is life going to be like this?' Even as we cry out we remember the evil in the world- in us- merits God's judgement. His coming will bring a fearsome but welcome justice. But also glory, a greater glory than our current suffering. So we lament the darkness in the world, the sin in ourselves and the judgement that will fall. But we do not succumb to despair. Ours is a hopeful lament as we prepare for the glory to be revealed."

"How long, O Lord, must we suffer under evil and darkness? Shine your light on me this day, that my life would point to your coming glory, by which the world will be healed and your people set free through Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. Amen." 

{Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God by Bobby Gross}