How Lonely

April 2020
A Lament for New York City

“How lonely sits the city that once was full of people”
The opening line of Lamentations

 A book of lament
Of loss
Of lack
Of loneliness
Of longing

 Chapters of mourning
And yearning
And waiting
And searching 

Verse after verse
Of silent streets
And sleepless nights
Of tear-drenched songs
And broken bones

It’s all right there
Pain painted across the pages
Of the very Word of God

Distress and desolation
Anguish and affliction
Rebellion and oppression
“The wormwood and the gall” 

A story of bruising 
And breaking
Agony
And aching
Where nothing seems to be happening at all 

...
And yet
Right there
In the middle of the grief
There is a gift 

“But this I call to mind
And, therefore, I have hope
The steadfast love of the Lord never ends
His mercies are new every morning
Great is his faithfulness”

... 
Yes, you have to wade through the weeping
To get to the dancing
You have to sit with the darkness
Before there is daylight
You have to repent and lament
Until you can laugh

Yes, mercy is coming
And new life is budding
And the streets will be bursting again.