What a life you have given us, God,
and who in the world can be expected to navigate it all?!
Should I laugh or should I cry when I take in
the clouds and the sun battling to set the day’s mood?
the summer and winter toying with us through spring?
the reporter making a trite quip at the end of a gloomy newscast?
the boggling disparity as a Hummer thunders past a pedestrian?
the pain of choosing to care?
the reality of violence among family members,
among those who are supposed to love one another?
the pressure placed on the youngest among us to compete?
the strain on all of us to be self-sufficient,
to not need and not ask?
Tell me, God, should I laugh or cry?
Jesus cried, at least once.
I think that I would cry more often than Jesus
but laughter is a cheerier mechanism to cope
with what I see
what I hear
what I feel
what I fear.
I don’t know what you think of all the ceremony
we’ve given to this week called “Holy,”
but at the very least it gives us an outlet
for processing
suspense
doubt
death
hope
anger
complexity
and, hopefully, agreeing with you at the end of it all
that life is the most important thing,
worth laughing at and worth crying over.
Worth fighting for.
There’s no navigating life without being scarred,
but there’s grace for living with the scars.
There’s grace.
There’s grace.
My God, thank you for grace.