March 11                                  Psalm 6                                   Rev. David Gerth

                                             Executive Director,
Metropolitan Congregations United

I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
    and drench my couch with tears.

Wow, that’s a lot of tears. I’m not much of a crier, even when I’m bawling inside. But I’ve been around people who are gifted at the fine and sacred art of letting it rip. Even the most joyful celebration of a well-lived life ought to have a moment when nobody can hold back. Every good funeral has somebody who just plain blubbers all over and burns through a box of Kleenex. Those tears show that someone mattered and still does.

We don’t have to wait until it’s all over to shed tears. Evil is working death all the time, all over the place, in endless ways. One of the main reasons I got involved in faith based organizing in the first place was that my prayers and my tears needed some feet of action to carry them and hold me up.

Working on lots of different social justice issues has also taught me that my best effort sometimes isn’t enough. The grief and pain soars after a cruel judicial or political decision. The tears flow when people I know are sent back to prison for a crimeless violation of probation. My heart breaks when we flat out lose.

Yet, tears as prayer have a special power. God hears tears as prayer.

Away from me, all you who do evil,
    for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.

God, today there just aren’t any words for my pain, so I’ll just cry. You’ll know what to do. Amen.