The Most Beautiful, Terrible Day - April 15
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory], 22; PM Psalm 40:1-14 (15-19), 54; Lam. 3:1-9, 19-33; 1 Pet. 1:10-20; John 13:36-38 [AM]; John 19:38-42 [PM]
Today’s Reflection
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘therefore I will hope in him.’ —Lamentations 3: 21-24
God’s love never ceases. God’s mercies are new every morning. Therefore, we have hope. So simple and so powerful. A few other verses that we read from Lamentations, though less familiar, are equally powerful.
For the Lord will not reject for ever.
Although he causes grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone. —Lamentations 3: 31-33
“Although he causes grief, he will have compassion.” There’s much to ponder in these eight words. Does God cause grief? I’m not sure I think so, but the writer of the Lamentations seemed to think so. I think it’s more that God doesn’t stop grief-causing events from happening to us and those we love. God allows us to experience life—and with life comes grief of all kinds. We grieve those who have died. We grieve missed opportunities. We grieve friendships and relationships lost. The more important question to consider, rather than getting stuck in the mire of why, is this: How does God respond to us in our grief? As we read in Lamentations 3: God will respond with compassion. And so, God sets the tone; he gives us the example of how we are to respond to those who are suffering grief of many kinds: We are to have compassion, like God, out of the abundance of our steadfast love for one another.
One of my favorite writers and podcasters, Kate Bowler, always signs off by saying, “Have a beautiful, terrible day.” She shares about how someone once asked her:
Why do you keep asking us to have a beautiful, terrible day? WHY TERRIBLE? Why not JUST beautiful?
Well. It came from the thought I kept having when I first got sick: that somehow I could see more, feel more, appreciate more of the wide spectrum of life. And it turns out that there's this perfect quote from pastor and writer, Frederick Buechner, who said: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
Life can be both wonderful and terrible, gorgeous and tragic. These opposites do not cancel each other out.
In theory, I love this Buechner quote—and I love that Kate Bowler is always wishing us a beautiful, terrible day. But in practice, in the moment, it is extremely hard to hold onto this truth: “Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Do not be afraid.” I feel like it’s easier to see the beauty intertwined with the terrible when we look back, with the perspective of not being right in the middle of the beautiful, terrible moment.
Good Friday is the day each year when we recall and commemorate that most beautiful and most terrible of days: the day when our Lord Jesus Christ died a brutal death by crucifixion in order to fulfill God’s plan of salvation for us all. That the Son of God died for us, and in this most violent way, is equally terrible and beautiful. On this most dark and sad day, God secured for us the promise of eternal light and forgiveness and love. No matter what terrible things we might do, no matter what terrible things might be done to us or happen to us, nothing can take away all the beauty and love God made possible for us on that most beautiful of terrible days.
Frederick Buechner was right. In our world, beautiful and terrible things will happen. And when they do, and even when we feel very afraid, God will show us compassion—which, we in turn, can share with others:
This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Becky+
Questions for Reflection
What comes to mind as the most beautiful yet terrible day you have lived so far? What made it beautiful? What made it terrible? How did you experience God being with you on this beautiful, terrible day?
Daily Challenge
Today’s reflection includes excerpts from my June 27, 2021 sermon, “Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day: God’s Mercies are New Every Morning,” which you can view through clicking on the link.