An April Lament

An April Lament

                We awoke to a world of silence today. Even in quarantine the neighborhood is usually filled with the sounds of children playing in their compounds. Not this morning. There is an eerie stillness and it feels as though a dark shadow hangs over the hills.


Today marks the beginning of the 26th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Over a million lives were lost in the span of only 100 days. Today, and for the next 100 days, friends, neighbors, and coworkers will grieve the loss of loved ones. And so, we grieve.
The first week of commemoration falls on Holy Week this year.  As if the sadness of remembering the lives lost by unimaginable atrocities isn’t enough, this year it is compounded by the remembrance of our Lord going to the cross. We remember the pain of betrayal, the deep sorrow of Gethsemane, and finally the ultimate sorrow of the cross. We examine our own sinful hearts and wonder if we too would have been shouting “crucify him”.  And so, we grieve.
All of this comes in the midst of a global crisis that hit like a ton of bricks. It is a time where the world seems to have been turned upside down. And so, we grieve. We grieve for the loss of routines, the loss normalcy, and the loss of community. We grieve for those who have lost jobs, for those who will go to bed hungry today as a result of this crisis, and we grieve especially for those have lost loved ones. Our souls weep for those here in Rwanda who will have to go through this time of intense and difficult mourning alone this year, unable to feel the comfort of loved ones and friends. And we grieve for the loss of Easter remembrances with brothers and sisters in Christ.
                This is a time when it is easy to feel alone and to despair. We may say with the Psalmist, “My soul is downcast within me” (Ps. 42:6a). For many it is a season of mourning. That’s ok. But Psalm 42 also repeats this text twice: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God” (vs. 5 & 11). Though we may grieve the brokenness of this world, we are not without hope. Our God is still worthy of praise. He is still in control, and Easter morning is coming! He has overcome the world and stands in victory. While we wait to see all things restored and made new, He gives us this assurance in Isaiah 43:

But now, this is what the Lord says—

    he who created you, Jacob,

    he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters,

    I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

    they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

    you will not be burned;

    the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the Lord your God



And so, we rejoice because He walks with us!



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