Songs of Sorrow - QOF Holidays 2024

What might the Babylonian exile of the ancient Jewish people around 2600 years ago have to do with carrying the pain of grief during the holidays?

Christmas is a holiday rooted in the Christian faith. How might the spiritual Christmas message and our relationship with God through Jesus connect with our holiday time grief?

Brian sees a connection with both the Hebrew experience and the Christian faith as we enter a holiday season that includes the pain of loss.

This connection does not mean dismissing or minimizing the sorrows of grief with simplistic religious platitudes. Faith is not intended to provide a quick fix for the deep human pain of loss. Rather, God joins us in the midst of our pain. Jesus comes along side in our loss; walking with us in shared grief.

Psalm 137

1 Beside the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept 

as we remembered Zion 

2 We put away our harps, 

hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. 

3 For our captors demanded a song from us. 

Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: 

“Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” 

4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a foreign land?