Lent and Lament: When the World Seems Broken

These are heavy days, aren’t they?

After two years of a pandemic, political divisions that are tearing apart our countries, suffering across the globe, and now, a war that hits close to home – everything just feels heavy.

I’ve heard so many parents make comments over the past few days like –

“What kind of world are we raising our children in?”

It’s a fair question. In days like these, it feels like the world is just… broken.

Amidst all the brokenness and pain that surrounds us, it seems fitting that this week, the church across the world is heading into Lent.

Lent, if you’re unfamiliar, is the season of 46 days that leads up to Easter Sunday (40 days + Sundays!).

While the origins of Lent are debated, it has been practiced by Christians for hundreds of years. The season – originally marked by Catholic and Orthodox believers, but now expanding into Evangelical and Pentecostal circles – is meant to be a time of self-denial, spiritual practice and reflection leading up to the celebration of Easter.

Throughout church history, it has been a somber and reflective season. Celebrations and indulgences were traditionally avoided – in fact, for many years, weddings couldn’t be performed during Lent!

This season was – and still is – meant to prepare our hearts to reflect on the magnitude of the Cross and the incredible joy of Easter Sunday.

Part of that preparation is practicing lament.

Lament isn’t a word that fits very well into our Christian vocabulary, especially when we talk about working with kids.

However, the reality is – lament is a deeply rooted biblical practice and one that we need to lean into during this season.

Lament is the practice of pouring out our sorrows to God – accompanied by a call for Him to act.

We often see lament in the book of Psalms – as David and others call out “How long, oh Lord?” and “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

In a world that feels broken, and where our kids have lost so much over the past few years, we need to show them that it is okay, indeed it is even biblical to ask questions. It is okay to tell God we are angry, frustrated and confused.

I love the way Glenn Packiam puts it:

Children who are confident of the love of a caregiver cry. For the Christian, our lament, when taken to our Father in heaven, is proof of our relationship with God, our connection to a great Caregiver.

Our God is great enough and big enough to handle our grief, our questions and our concerns.

So how do we do it?

How do we practice lament with our kids this season? Here are a few simple ideas:

• Read a short psalm of Lament as a family. Psalm 13, Psam 77:1-9, Psalm 86 or Psalm 123 are great places to start. Consider having kids draw or doodle as you read together.
  
• Make a giant list together as a family of things that are causing you hurt, grief or confusion. These can be personal things (eg. “we haven’t seen our grandparents for a long time because of COVID) or global things (eg. “people are fighting and unkind to one another).” After you’ve made your list, pray out loud, listing each one, followed by “How long, oh Lord?”
  
• Talk about the things that are scaring your family right now. After you’ve talked, have everyone close their eyes and have one person read Revelation 21:1-7. Ask everyone how it made them feel, and pray together, thanking Jesus for hope, even when things are hard.
  
• Listen to some worship songs of lament together on days that just feel “heavy” or “sad.”
  
• Each night at supper, light a candle (or crack a glow stick!) and thank God for one good thing about your day. Follow this by telling Him one thing that made you feel disappointed or frustrated.
  
• If you have older kids, let them write their own Psalm of Lament.

Lament is not meant to burden kids. However, giving our kids – who carry so much emotion and heaviness that we don’t see – a space to safely talk about it, and bring it our great, Big God is one of the best gifts we can give them in this season.

Instead of compartmentalizing or silencing those fears, questions, and frustrations, we are bringing them to the One who cares – and letting him hear our heart.

These activities are all explained in depth in our brand new Learning Lament guide – perfect for your own family, or to share with the families in your ministry this Lent season.