Some of y'all know and some of you don't, but I have a conservative, tending-toward-fundamentalist, evangelical Christian background (#ChurchOfChrist #COfC). And some of y'all don't/know that I am now an a/theist (will attempt defining if asked).
So when two 20yo Mormon boys stop at my front yard while my mom and I are planting irises, I have *opinions*.
I didn't voice the opinions. Those poor kids wouldn't be able to deal, and I don't wanna be the one to yank away safety nets before...
1/
...those young'uns have had the experience that prepares them for the icy swim in the deep end.
They asked if they could share scripture with us. Sure, we said. And kept working. 😆 I think they expected us to stop what we were doing and listen attentively, because they dithered for almost 5 minutes before actually reading the thing. One of them finally read something about Christ being light.
I wasn't really paying attention beyond that, so I don't even know if it was a Bible verse...
2/
...or a Book of Mormon verse. My dad had arrived by then and jovially said something about "preaching to the choir." My mom said something non-committal. The boys offered to help us; we politely demurred. They dithered a bit more, then made polite goodbyes & turned away.
Me: "I have a scripture for you, before you go." They turned toward me, interested. "You don't need to look it up now," I said, "but I recommend Psalm 88. Just read it sometime & let it work on you."
They were delighted.
3/
In case you're not aware, the Psalms consist of Hebrew hymns. Lyrics-wise, I'd call them "poetic prayers." They're at least as old as 500 BCE, some possibly as old as 1500 BCE. Many are praises to God, but many are laments concerning terrible things that have happened to the particular lyricist.
And these lamenting ones are not shy about delineating the frustration, anger, and despair that go along with life struggles. War, famine, disease, abandonment. Hashtag relatable, in many cases.
4/
That said, for the most part, even the lamenting songs end with some form of "still I will praise you, Lord" -- which is a kind of redemption, a release from the tension, a forward-looking hope.
Psalm 88 doesn't have that.
Psalm 88 describes the writer's troubles & despair, then ends with a line that can be translated: "the darkness is my only friend."
Boom. Curtain drop. No redemption, no release, no hope. No praise of God. No comfort of "God's presence."
5/
If those two kids, those 20yo Mormon "elders" (*gigglesnort*) actually do read that psalm and let it work on them and juxtapose it with the pure positivity they're preaching in the hopes of enticing people into their church...if they actually do give it genuine, vulnerable, honest consideration, it is really going to bake their noodle. 😉
6/6
#religion
#Mormonism
#Christianity
#ToxicPositivity
#SecularSalvation
#honesty
#vulnerability
#despair
@courtcan That's some psalm, all right.
This lament of abandonment reminds me of the old gag that monotheists are just one god away from atheism. What does the singer have left?
Court Cantrell does not comply
Guitarsophist
Jon Bosak
Michele Feltman Strider