First Friday in Lent

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night, but find no rest." Psalm 22:2

this is why Lent has

so little appeal for so many.

the sense that not only

are we asked to give up

those things which give us pleasure,

but the worry that you have

given us up in this season.

the fear that when we reach

out our hands, no one takes them,

and our whispers of anguish

just float in the air until the

pop like children's bubbles.

the uncertainty of whether 

or not we will be comforted

in your arms of grace at night

or just left to curl up on

the hardwood floor of our loneliness.

this is why Lent has

so little appeal for so many,

because the feelings are not

so different from ordinary days.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman