This Lent, we invite you to take some time to lament that which you and others have lost. In her essay, “Four Steps of Lament,” Heidi Weaver invites us to:
• Rest, to take sabbath time to simply be present to our current situation;
• Reflect on that which has been lost;
• Repent for the sufferings and loss we have caused or overlooked; and
• Make Restitution and be Restored to God and to one another.

This year for our Lenten Meditations we have invited ten writers to share reflections on each of these four steps of lament. These writers are all leaders in The Episcopal Church and represent a diversity of perspectives, ministries and backgrounds. As a result, we are blessed to have a unique and rich tapestry of viewpoints on the universal experience of lament, loss and new life. Many of the authors share deeply personal and painful experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty.

Readers, come to these meditations with an open heart. What you read may challenge you and give rise to unexpected or uncomfortable feelings. We encourage you to engage the “Four Steps of Lament,” by resting, reflecting, repenting and ultimately being restored to God and to one another. Finally our wish for you is that God brings you rest this Lent so that you may reflect on your own loss and be transformed in the process. May God then restore your soul and bring you into the bright new life that is our Easter promise. And may you continue to know that you are loved now and always.
Amen.
Robert W. Radtke
President & CEO
Episcopal Relief & Development

REMEMBER

“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
—Luke 6:27

My childhood pastor used to tell us, “You gotta love everybody, chil’ren, even white people.”

I’ve often reflected on that statement’s simplicity and complexity in situations where people were hard to love. Surprisingly, the most difficult times weren’t when I first heard the “N” word, or the guy who bullied me (until I had enough) or when someone wronged me. I had the most difficulty loving my enemies when I never met them like the drug dealers down the street that I fought but never knew and those we stereotype so we can more easily label them as racists, liberals, conservatives, black people, white people, criminals and immigrants. Not knowing them makes them faceless and easier to demonize and hate.

But how can we love people we don’t know? How can we say we love everyone but support children of immigrants being separated from their families, scream obscenities at the police officer we’ve never met or get our guns ready because the evil protesters are coming for us? This is fear, not love. We have to do what it takes to know the “other” so that we can love our enemies.

I remember my pastor saying, “You gotta love everybody, chil’ren, even, [insert the group you struggle with].” God give us the strength to know and to love, even our enemies.
—Willie Bennett

Source: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lent-2021-English-BlackWhite.pdf; © 2021 Episcopal Relief & Development. All rights reserved. Printed in partnership with Forward Movement.