From “Becoming Brave: Finding The Courage To Pursue Racial Justice Now” by Brenda Salter McNeil
Lament is a voice that refuses to be consoled and calls us into a journey that will change and transform us at deeply fundamental levels. It is a protest against the brokenness of the world. It causes us to come face-to-face with hurting people and places that desperately need the healing presence of God. Lament forces us to come close enough to see the horror of what is really going on around us. It also allows us to tell the truth and to name the crisis for what it really is.
Lament is not despair or a cry into the void. Rather, “it is the prayer of those who are deeply disturbed by the way things are.” It is a way to call public attention to an egregious problem – that’s why Mordecai said, No, I will not be silent!