The Lament/Hope Quadrant
This quadrant is useful in helping us to understand the importance of both Lament and Hope in our faith journey.
Suffering is inevitable in life and how we respond impacts our lives and the lives of those around us. In the Bible Paul wrote - may we be people who “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
If we live a life with low hope and low lament we experience detached stoicism and apathy. When we are detached and apathetic we run from hope to avoid disappointment. We run from our grief to avoid the sting of loss. We end up numb.
If we live with high hope but rarely lament we're living with naive optimism. We risk disconnecting from the brokenness around us, we lack empathy and we miss opportunities to repair what we fail to acknowledge is broken.
A life of low hope but high lament can cause unrelenting despair. When we are despairing the sting of loss is ever present and consuming to the point that we feel there's no way out and nothing else in the world that matters.
Yet if we can hold high both hope and lament we can experience faithful suffering. This is the form of response to loss that properly honors both the sting of grief and the joy of hope. Hope and joy can co-exist with lament and sorrow.
If we live with high hope but rarely lament we're living with naive optimism. We risk disconnecting from the brokenness around us, we lack empathy and we miss opportunities to repair what we fail to acknowledge is broken.
A life of low hope but high lament can cause unrelenting despair. When we are despairing the sting of loss is ever present and consuming to the point that we feel there's no way out and nothing else in the world that matters.
Yet if we can hold high both hope and lament we can experience faithful suffering. This is the form of response to loss that properly honors both the sting of grief and the joy of hope. Hope and joy can co-exist with lament and sorrow.