Padre's Corner - A time to lament
November 10, 2020 - Padre David N. Jackson
As we enter into a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a good friend said something very poignant to me the other day.
He said, “We need to lament well in order to give full expression to our joy.”
Upon hearing this, I could not help but think of the opening verses of the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes which talks about there being a time for everything:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecc. 3:1-8, ESV)
Caption
Photo courtesy Canadian Forces Combat Camera
To lament is simply another way of saying to mourn, and at the moment it certainly feels like a time to mourn, and a time to refrain from embracing due to social distancing, etc. Perhaps at this time you are lamenting, or mourning the loss of your normal life and routine before the pandemic. Perhaps you are lamenting the death of a loved one and have not been able to mourn properly due to COVID restrictions.
At the end of World War I (WWI) in 1918, Canadians had every reason to celebrate the end of the war. However, Canada was also in the midst of the Spanish Flu in 1918, and public gatherings were being restricted, making celebrating the end of the war more restrained. In fact, 50,000 Canadians died from the Spanish flu – almost as many as were killed in WWI. The loss of life from both WWI and the Spanish Flu was certainly a cause for mourning.
As we approach Nov. 11 this year, many Remembrance Day ceremonies will be observed virtually and military personnel will mark the occasion from home in order to preserve and protect the force and curtail the spread of COVID. Many of us may find it emotionally difficult to properly express our lamentation and pay our respects to the war dead virtually, but it is a necessary precaution this year.
However, do not despair, for, know this – there is hope. For there will come a time when we will once again embrace one another, and laugh together.
So, this Nov. 11, as we listen to the bugler play the Last Post and the piper play the Lament during virtual Remembrance Day ceremonies, may we lament well that we might give full expression to our joy. In the words of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in her Coronavirus speech broadcast on April 5:
We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again.