Distress, a Reflection on Lamentations 1:1-6

The lectionary interrupts the readings from Jeremiah for this selection from Lamentations. Interrupts is too strong a word because this reading like the ones from Jeremiah is dealing with the same situation--the invasion of the capital city by the powerful enemy army.

Grief at what has been lost--status, friendship, and family. Now, loneliness, abandonment, sorrow.

They can remember the celebrations of the past, but now they are being ruled by their enemies.

For modern readers who live in countries that have been attacked, we can read these words as reminder of the losses we had and how we felt. And we can read them as a model for how we can admit our own wrongdoing.