O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
-Habakkuk 1:2-3
Maybe it’s the heat, or perhaps it’s because theodicy has been on my mind for the last 10 years, or mayhaps I just enjoy good music. Anyway, ‘Prayer In C’ by Lilly Wood & The Prick has been my song for the week.
Yah*, you never said a word
You didn’t send me no letter
Don’t think I could forgive you
See our world is slowly dying
I’m not wasting no more time
Don’t think I could believe you
Yah, our hands will get more wrinkled
And our hair will be grey
Don’t think I could forgive you
And see the children are starving
And their houses were destroyed
Don’t think they could forgive you
Hey, when seas will cover lands
And when men will be no more
Don’t think you can forgive you
Yeah when there’ll just be silence
And when life will be over
Don’t think you will forgive you
Its posture of prayer, questioning, and lament fills my heart with such joy. Partly because it’s good to know that there are songs like this out there, since this would never be sung in the context of a church service. It harkens back to the tradition of the prophets, like Habakkuk (quoted at the top) and the psalms, especially Psalm 6 with the psalmist pleading with God saying, “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?” (6:5). In other words, don’t let my enemies kill me, for who will praise you then.
“Prayer in C” also has these great statements and questions about forgiveness:
1. God does not respond to my pleas and prayers. How can I forgive God?
2. Our bodies are deteriorating. How can I forgive God?
3. The world is falling apart: children dying, housing destroyed. How can those affected forgive God?
4. Once the Earth is destroyed and no living creatures are around, will God forgive Godself?
This lament is not as much as the singer becoming an atheist; rather, it’s her expressing frustration and wanting God to respond with cosmic justice, quickly.
It’s hard not to have this plea daily.
Tonight, I’ve been reading all that I can about Imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant, Thara Uddin, who were murdered in Queens. My prayers go out to their families. This was an act of evil.
I am reminded of the eternal words of Mother Jones:
May I live with such zeal for life and that I surround myself with like-minded lovers of life.
*Yah, of course, is a shortened name for YHWH (or God).
black flag theology 