Brueggemann on lament: “Churches should be the most honest place in town, not the happiest place in town"

Peter Enns attended a Bruggemann meeting, and came home with this:

...What can we learn from this? Here is what Brueggemann said:  “Churches should be the most honest place in town, not the happiest place in town.”

Maybe we have lost the “art of lament,” where complaining to God is part of the deal. Maybe, rather than playing church and make-believe, a vital dimension of the spiritual journey is giving God an earful now and then. Maybe God can handle it. Maybe God likes it, because it means we are being real and not fake.

Maybe if you’re angry with God now and then, you’re normal. Maybe that’s part of being the people of God.  LINK