Good Friday

Psalm 88

O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.
I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah.

You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you. Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah.

Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you. Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me? From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

As the season of Lent soon draws to a close, this Psalm is a poetic reminder of the heart of an orphaned and abandoned child. We, meaning those who grew up knowing our parents and knowing their love, can emerge from Lent and all of its symbolism and resume our normal lives with deepend gratitude. But for the kids at Sovietsk and others like them throughout the world, life is like a permanent Lent with a thousand Good Fridays. They feel alone and abandoned; darkness is their closest friend. They act out because they don't know what else to do. They sniff glue to numb the pain. They run away or turn to exploitation and violence. Our kids struggle and fight for their lives, trying to emotionally survive, trying to find the light.

But despite all of this, we believe there is hope. Why? It's called Good Friday for a reason. Easter is coming.