Links for today’s readings:
Aug 26 Read: Jeremiah 20 Listen: (3:07) Read: 1 Thessalonians 5 Listen: (2:37)
Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 20:14–15
14 Cursed be the day I was born!
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,who made him very glad, saying,“A child is born to you—a son!”
Reflection: Cursed Birth Day
By Erin Newton
What do Jeremiah, Job, and Frankenstein’s monster all have in common? Answer: They curse the day they were born.
Jeremiah has been ridiculed and imprisoned for his prophesying. He curses the day that brought him life and the messenger who brought the news.
Job suffered the deaths of his children and the loss of his wealth and health. He declares: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ That day—may it turn to darkness” (Job 3.3-4).
The Creature in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel experiences rejection from his maker and cries out: “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?”
We know the value of life. We celebrate birthdays. We pray for healings.
But let’s be honest. Many of us have felt pain deep enough to wish it away. We have grieved to the point that the future seems not worth the trouble. We understand that living is a gift, but pain brings us to the place we want to trade it all in.
And that’s expected. Despite our desire for ease and comfort—this world often brings the uncomfortable and the painful and the awful events right to our doorstep.
It is good for us to sit with the uneasiness of this chapter in Jeremiah. It ends rather bleakly. We want to rush to tidy it up, to add a “but then” phrase in there.
But if we move past the harsh, raw emotions of pain too fast, we lose the transformative moment of what brutal honesty can do for us. Telling God we wish we’d never been born is probably the most honest we will ever be. But it’s scary. Are we allowed to not want this?
I think Jeremiah and Job give us permission to say what we are really thinking. Job sits in misery for a while. He bangs on the doors of heaven until God speaks. A fire of passion is stoked by God in the heart of Jeremiah. He cannot contain it even if he wants to give up.
We are not a creature stitched together from decomposing flesh and rejected by our father. We are like the prophet and the most faithful servant—seen, heard, and tended to by God. Don’t be afraid to be honest. He’s heard all this before and still loves us.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. — Psalm 86.4
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Better Unborn
It is normal to feel ready to give up, regret answering God’s call, and wish we could go where no one can reach us.
Read more: Be Awake Be Light
In Christ, we are “of the light” but live in a world dominated by darkness…How then should we live?
