Lament, so prominent in the Christian canon, is neglected in the public worship and witness of most North American congregations. These essays by Princeton Theological Seminary faculty attest to the diverse ways in which lament is understood and practiced, and they invite their recovery in all elements of the church’s ministry. Contributors are Charles Bartow, Clifton Black, Brian Blount, Sally Brown, Donald Capps, Ellen Charry, Nancy Duff, Robert Dykstra, Richard Fenn, Nancy Lammers Gross, William Stacy Johnson, Patrick Miller, Luis Rivera-Pagan, and Peter Paris.
Contents:
Part I: Reclaiming Lament in Christian Prayer and Proclamation
1. Recovering Lamentation as a Practice in the Church
2. Heaven’s Prisoners: Lament as Christian Prayer
3. When Lament Shapes the Sermon
4. The Shepherd’s Song: A Sermon
Part II: Loss and Lament, Human and Divine
5. “The Persistence of the Wounds”
6. “Rending the Curtain: Lament as an Act of Vulnerable Aggression”
7. “Nervous Laughter: Lament, Death, Anxiety, and Humor
8. Jesus’ Cry, God’s Cry, and Ours
9. May We Trust God and (Still) Lament? Can We Lament and (Still) Trust God?
Part III: Reclaiming the Public Voice of Lament
10. When Feeling Like a Motherless Child
11. Woes of Captive Women: From Lament to Defiance in Times of War
12. IV Ezra’s Lament: The Anatomy of Grief
13. Breaking Point: A Sermon
Conclusion
Till God Speaks Light: Devotional Reflections on Lamentation with Verse
