The Power of Lament: A Reconciliation Walk
Why is important to lament?
Last month, 30 people walked to places near the Cathedral where distressing events are remembered: the Marchioness Disaster, the London Bridge terror attacks and Crossbones Cemetery.
Why is it important to lament? Bishop Jo Bailey Wells says, “To lament is to name the ruptures of this world so truthfully that we move beyond the point where any explanation or action is adequate, to the space where the only way forward is the desperate anguished cry directly to God.” The desperation is a human response, and one which God understands.
Bishop Michael Doe reflected on life and death in present-day Palestine. We stopped at each place of remembrance and heard the stories of the young lives lost on the Marchioness, those killed in the terror attacks, and the thousands of women and marginalised poor who were denied a burial in consecrated ground.
At the end, there was an opportunity to name a lament of our own: something in our world that we currently rage and weep about, or a past lament that has remained unacknowledged. We used rosemary leaves for remembrance, salt water for tears and the music of lament.
The focus on lament continues a sequence which looks at the habits of a reconciler. The series continues this autumn and is offered by the Cathedral’s Community of the Cross of Nails action group.
Catriona Robertson