To Think God as Love

Richard at Experimental Theology has posted this meditation on Grunewald’s famous altarpiece. It is at once both a beautiful and disturbing meditation, which fits well the qualities of the art itself. More than that, it speaks to that most disturbing fact: at the center of our faith  - indeed at the center of reality! – [...]

Psalm 88 is the “low point” of Scripture. It is the only one of the Psalms of lament that doesn’t at some point turn toward repentance and/or praise. The psalmist’s complaint, unabashedly directed against God’s “oppressive presence,” bleeds like a deep wound that cannot be healed. The lament is, to borrow James Crenshaw’s turn of phrase, a [...]

After Mark’s comments in response to my last post, I realized my thoughts needed clarification. First, I want to be careful not to reduce lament to complaint against or questioning of God. It includes that, of course, but it involves much more, as a reading of the Psalms demonstrates. Nonetheless, I want to address some of [...]

As Walter Brueggemann reminds us, the practice of liturgical lament is indispensable. We cannot afford not to protest against God to God. A genuine faith – an authentically human faith – not only permits but indeed requires this form of prayer.