In her book Liberation and the Cosmos, CAC faculty member Dr. Barbara Holmes constructs imagined conversations between varied ancestors and activists in faith. Here she envisions a conversation between educator Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) on the healing power of tears:
Bethune: Lament is needed as a ritual of cleansing and preparation for what is yet to come. It is a step in the process of liberation that was never completed…. The generations that have followed slavery have been crying throughout their lifetimes; they have just chosen to do it on the inside. Their spirits are riddled with the salt of unreleased tears.
King: The whispered hope that echoes through every wail and cry of anguish is that the troubles of this world are not the end of the story. Now we see through a glass darkly and not face to face [1 Corinthians 13:12]. This generation is inundated with twenty-four-hour news stations that bring the pain of the world into your living rooms. Yet, your lives in Western societies seem to go on unchanged. You are inundated with news of disaster and death, yet even in your compassion, you seem distanced and detached from the grit and horror going on in the world.… We have forgotten the gift that lament can be.…
Bethune: That is why my call to the next generation is to reclaim the possibility of real joy through the healing practice of lament. I am suggesting that we weep with those who weep, that we moan over the harm done on our behalf and by our hands…. We are urging the next generation to allow lament to act as a release valve for pent-up rage and generational frustration, to use lament as a teaching device for the children, and to allow the time of comfort that follows lament to knit the community together despite its differences…. I promise you that tears can be revolutionary.…
King: It is the lament of the community that leads to healing. It may seem that you are few in number, that you don’t have the strength or means to overcome systems of oppression and death. All you have are prayers, faith, and courage. Yet, with this alone and the God who never leaves us alone, you must act.
Communal lament opens the possibility for healing stories to be told. Through Bethune’s voice, Holmes points to contemporary versions of “griots,” traveling oral historians and storytellers from West Africa:
Bethune: The call for lament is not an invitation to moping or sadness. It is a call for ritual reorientation. With or without tears, lament is a communal act of cosmological engagement. Ancestors on the continent of Africa knew this…. There are griots among you in this new generation. They are poets, drummers, preachers, and singers. They are found in every walk of life, and they are waiting to write and share the stories that defy the conspiracy of silence that pervades this present age.
Reference:
Barbara A. Holmes, Liberation and the Cosmos: Conversations with the Elders, rev. ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008, 2023), 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160.
Image credit and inspiration: Siim Lukka, untitled (detail), 2017, photo, Estonia. Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. We make room for our personal and collective grief by letting the sorrow burn through.
Story from Our Community:
I have been part of the Daily Meditations online community for many years, but the meditations on lamenting have had a profound effect on me. My son died at the age of 54, and my daughter who has mental illness is not doing well. I am finding so much wisdom and comfort in the Daily Meditations. I know God walks with us as we lament. I hope all of us who are struggling find some peace in that wisdom.
—Linda L.
