March 28

Lamentations 3:55 – 66  

Link to Bible verses: Lamentations 3

Integration: the healing journey of integrating the 7 pillars of Benedictine spirituality

The human journey of healing, of integration, does not lead to “happy ever after.” In fact, I believe utopian endeavors cause great harm because they often reinforce false hopes that humans can live in conflict-free families or communities.

The healing journey is not about moving past conflict and suffering. Instead, this journey is about learning to respond instead of react. It’s about learning unconditional humility and compassion. It’s about letting go of fear and control. And it’s about settling in to a love of self and all others that does not erase conflict but grounds us in our reality of interdependence, a deep knowing that we need each other for our very survival.

For Christians, this interdependence includes a belief that we live in intimate relationship with God, with the entire Trinity. Part of the healing journey, then, is to develop habits of turning to God to develop this relationship. In Lamentations, we read the intense sorrow and anger that all of us can feel when we’re wronged or targeted, but the author is sharing these feelings with God and asking for God’s mercy. The author is inviting God into the conflicts and sufferings of human life. The feeling of knowing we are seen, accompanied, and loved unconditionally in those moments when life is hard, unjust, and overwhelming is, I think, better than a performative utopia.

Thank you to Linda Land-Closson for writing our 2026 Lenten Devotions.