The Heart of Grief

Songs of Sorrow - QOF Holidays 2024

Cover Art: "Big" Jim Miller; Program Music: Georgia Sound "Something New" Season 3 Episode 20

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0:00 | 16:06

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What might the Babylonian exile of the ancient Jewish people around 2600 years ago have to do with carrying the pain of grief during the holidays?

Christmas is a holiday rooted in the Christian faith. How might the spiritual Christmas message and our relationship with God through Jesus connect with our holiday time grief?

Brian sees a connection with both the Hebrew experience and the Christian faith as we enter a holiday season that includes the pain of loss.

This connection does not mean dismissing or minimizing the sorrows of grief with simplistic religious platitudes. Faith is not intended to provide a quick fix for the deep human pain of loss. Rather, God joins us in the midst of our pain. Jesus comes along side in our loss; walking with us in shared grief.

Psalm 137

1 Beside the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept 

as we remembered Zion 

2 We put away our harps, 

hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. 

3 For our captors demanded a song from us. 

Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: 

“Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” 

4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a foreign land?