“The Cave” by The Rev. Kaji Douša, from the StillSpeaking series published by the United Church of Christ

I cry aloud to the Lord;
I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
I pour out before him my complaint;
before him I tell my trouble. – Psalm 142:1-2

Psalm 142 is a Psalm of David offered from the time “when he was in the cave.” Are you in the cave, too? Is someone else who you know there, too?

We all find our way into the cave at one time or another. We all find ourselves in places where we find no light but the match we cannot seem to find. There is a mouth to the cave, there is an exit. But is it safe to go? The responses that others offer us in our laments help us to know whether or not the world outside the cave is a place where we will be embraced.

If a lament is not your song today, how can you call into a cave where someone else is waiting? If you are in the cave, where can you call knowing that your “complaint” will be honored rather than ignored? If you are in church leadership, how can you help to make room for every bit of this?

No matter what the people around you do, know that, cave or not, God embraces it all. You are honored, beloved and known.

Prayer
“Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name,” O God. For in you, we find our true freedom, the opening of the gate, the mouth of the cave. Help us into your promised land. Amen.