Lament

The following is a Lament prose I have written for my Theology of Suffering Class tomorrow.  Several weeks ago we went on a "Suffering Expedition" in the downtown area of the city's college I attend.  We were instructed to observe suffering as well as the subtle persistence of hope and then compose a prose.  Th
It has been a soul moving experience to observe, reflect, and give voice to my thoughts.

"Oh God...hear our cry

We are the lonely, afraid and disturbed

haunted by our memories and tortured in our thoughts

We are the forgotten and rejected

despised because of our crime and betrayed by those we trust

The wreckage of our lives lies sometimes quietly hidden

at other times, grossly exposed

How long 'til we emerge from this garbage heap

marked wasted, discarded, useless lives?!

How long in this prison?!

Who will hear our muffled pleas for freedom from the

shame and torment, emptiness and despair?!

O God...hear our cry!

We are so much more than the labels used to define us!

This limping-along-way-of-living cripples others, not me!!

Horror may lurk in my memory, oh but strength and resilience are rooted in deeper places

The verdict condemns my actions--yes, but they are not the sum total of my worth!

I smile God...and I laugh and tease and kiss--regardless of my IQ

And today--today my stumbling gait can even outrun the demons of my mind.

Hear our cry oh God...

And fan our flags of hope"