Haven’t we been all waiting for Spring to finally arrive after these years of the plague? Only to arrive in a world haunted by new terror? How then shall we enter passion week in these plagued times?

When I was traveling the globe as a young volunteer I found something unknown to me in Taiwan as well as in the Middle East: Lamenters. At an Arabic funeral every one is mourning, loudly, expressively, especially the men. Our Taiwanese neighbors paid professional lamenters to lament for three days, loud and sorrowful, the death of a family member. This was a stark contrast to the German funerals I studied as a little girl while accompanying my father to his services in his country parishes. Stone faced expressions, especially the men. One day, as I played my flute, looking into all those earnest faces I was overcome with grief. My hands started shaking, and after barely finishing my piece I started crying inconsolably. I did not know the man who died. But I was mourning nonetheless. It was as if all the lost energy of grief, hanging over the people like a dark cloud, was looking for a heart to land, a heart willing to resonate, willing to open up. I was embarrassed to be the little girl crying about a man I didn’t know, and only later have I started to understand what came over me that day.

In my culture we have grown up to control our emotions. Now we are afraid they will overwhelm us when we meet them. That we would cry uncontrollably like the little girl who carried the grief of the whole congregation. If grief is so powerful and frightening, what can be the purpose of lament?

If we trust the biblical stories lament seems to be a significant part of the human story with God. There are the famous lamenters like Job and the psalmists, and even one book called Lamentations. What are they doing in our bible?

Lamenting understood correctly is a healthy form of grieving. Instead of locking us up within our grief we give words to our sorrows and in doing so we free them from the grip of despair.

With his Passion JS Bach has created a grand lamentation. Bach seems not to believe that coping with our fears and sorrows would mean to keep them in check in order to quickly get over them. Instead his music gives us a container for our sorrows and seduces us into beautiful lamentation. Joining in this orchestrated experience of mourning can actually be self-soothing and a strategy for resilience in the face of tragedy.

This is what the opening chorus of the Passion does. “Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen…”. literally translated with “Come ye daughters, help me lament…” In broad strokes, bringing together both choirs, all the soloists and instrument groups, Bach weaves together movements which penetrate our soul and make a path to participate in Christ’s suffering by facing our own.

Daughters and Sons, what are we bringing to this lament? Here we are with our fears for our neighbors and families. Here we are burdened by the pain for others risking their life while we must stay home. Here we are with our unbearable fear of the unknown, forced to wait in silence as a plague stalks our world. Here we are, angry may be, with leadership who lacks empathy, and a world who has given up on truth. Here we are with …

Listening Practice

The St Matthew Passion performed by the Netherlands Bach Society for “All of Bach.”

You can watch the video also directly on their beautiful website, scrolling through each piece. Here you also find text translations and back ground information on this recording.

> The piece we meditate on today is the very first entrance chorus: “Kommt Ihr Töchter, lasst uns klagen…” (If the video does not start at the beginning just scroll the red line at the bottom back to the beginning.)

So today I invite you into lamentation. To listen to it. And then, to bring your own words to it. Start with the opening chorus of the Matthew Passion. Listen. Listen with the ear of your heart. You probably do not even need the lyrics to understand the motions. Feel the movement, as Bach composed them like waves, rolling over the choirs and orchestra, almost like a mourning dance,

Come ye daughters, help me mourning, see him, whom? the Christ, see him, whom?, the lamb, see, what? the patience , Look, where? on our guilt, he is bearing, out of love, to the cross.

How to listen to Bachs music? There are several ways: Just start and listen to it once. You might want to read the text first and then listen, or the other way around, or follow it while listening. You might want to listen to the piece now once, and once again at the end of your day. Or during the day. As the spirit moves you.

For today we want to listen together to the opening chorus of the Passion. It is almost 8 min long. So you have to turn the video off (which is the whole Passion) after the first piece. Or you might listen a little longer first to get a feel how it is bound into the passion story.

While listening, be mindful of

how the movements of the music call to your soul
the invitation to mourn
the expression of emotion in voice, posture, and music

1. Chor (I, II)
Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen,
sehet – Wen? – den Bräutigam,
seht ihn – Wie? – als wie ein Lamm!
O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig
am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet,
Sehet, – Was? – seht die Geduld,
allzeit erfunden geduldig,
wiewohl du warest verachtet.
seht – Wohin? – auf unsre Schuld;
All Sünd hast du getragen,
sonst müssten wir verzagen.
sehet ihn aus Lieb und Huld
Holz zum Kreuze selber tragen!
Erbarm dich unser, o Jesu!

1. Chorus
Come ye daughters, share my mourning;
See Him! Whom? The Bridegroom Christ.
See Him! How? A spotless Lamb.
O Lamb of God unspotted,
Upon the Cross Thou art slaughtered.
See it! What? His patient love.
Serene and ever patient,
Tho’ scorned and cruelly tortured.
Look! Look where? On our offence.
All sin for our sake bearing,
Else would we die despairing.
Look on Him. For love of us
He Himself His Cross is bearing.
Have pity on us, o Jesus.

Lamentation Practice

If you have the time continue to meditate over the day on your own lamentations. What are you mourning today? What is the cross you bring to this place and time? How can you give words to it? Perhaps you want to write a lamentation psalm, just as the psalmists did. Or, more simply, list your lamentations on a piece of paper. How ever you do it, one way to end this practice is to bring the lamentations you have written or moved in your heart and sit with them while you revisit the entrance chorus in the evening again. This time, while listening, fill the lyrics in with your own words.