March 11/Fourth Monday of Lent
For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. ~ Ps 30.6
Sometimes joy, peace, contentment just vanish from our lives. Work isn’t going well, or there is a family crisis, or we’re experiencing one of those lonely disconnects that sometimes happens in a marriage or a friendship. The night falls and the darkness closes in and we feel ourselves spiraling down to something like despair. We get drawn so deep into the maze of worries and troubles that we can’t even begin to find a way out; we have the lost the thread that will carry us back to wholeness of life. We may pay lip service to the truth that change is a constant and that joy and sorrow come through our lives in waves, but we don’t always embrace that truth emotionally or spiritually. Today’s hopeful verses are a wonderful antidote to our tendency to join the perpetually gloomy Eeyore Squad. The psalmist doesn’t deny the negatives: for him, the hostility of “enemies” and the dangers of “the pit.” He even acknowledges that weeping and lamentation get the upper hand at times. But, buoyed by an infinite trust in God’s power to soothe and ultimately solve the world’s woes, he also proclaims his belief that joy eclipses suffering, that light conquers darkness, that love is stronger than death. Our past sorrows are balanced with present joys; our past joys balance present sorrows. Yes, as night comes, weeping often takes a room in our houses (and the concrete meaning of the Hebrew verb here is to “stay overnight, to lodge”); but in the morning, as the psalmist says vividly, concretely, ringingly: “shouts of joy.” These Lenten days of penance and sorrow can seem dark and long, but God will ultimately transmute our waiting and wailing into a dance of joy, as we look hopefully towards the Easter dawn.
O God of tears and laughter, Bestow upon me a hopeful patience as night falls and I await the morning’s shouts of joy. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031124.cfm
To hear Dr. Charles G. Hayes & the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir of Chicago, Ill. sing “Weeping May Endure for a Night, Joy Cometh In the Morning,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycU50G0IfYE
And for a more contemplative rendition of Psalm 30, offered by Ely Cathedral Choir (U.K.), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsHg74MSuDM
