July 22, 2012 – Lamentations 5

In concluding Lamentations, the author continues the view of the downtrodden leaving the city.  But he understands fully that their own sins are the reason.  I was listening to a podcast on Confession.  There is a sense of that in the Sacrament.  Most do not go into confession with their head held high.  They go in down trodden, like those leaving a city defeated, like those that know their sin has caused their pain.  But they leave with a new sense of hope.  The writer of Lamentations has that hope, but he doesn’t have that Sacrament.  I think there is a longing for it in his vision of the future.  He longs for reunification with God, he wants to rebuild that bridge, he wants to live a life by God’s rules, but that is not where he is at when he writes this.  Christ hasn’t come yet to bridge that gap.  The author will never feel that restoration while he lives. 

We can.  We have the ability to bridge that gap, to rebuild that bridge we have torn down with sin.  There are so many in the world with their head down in defeat.  Many do not think it is their fault, the humbler ones understand it is.  When we have our heads down, when we feel defeated, when we are walking away from our burned out city, first we must reflect on the sin we have done, understand that sin destroys, understand that God builds up, seek God out, go to Confession and build that bridge.  Grace is there and His Grace wants to bridge that gap.  He is waiting for you.  You don’t have to stand on the hill and look at the ruined city of your sinful life.  All you have to do is turn around and look at the Glorious City of God He is inviting you to on the other side.  There are always two roads.