Lectio
“There’s a certain gift in the longing. That longing that you feel is an echo of God’s infinite longing for you. God freely chooses to long for us as the beloved. And so our longing is the reciprocity of longing… Because somehow God is present and actualized in the longing itself.”
— James Finley, Turning to the Mystics: Mechthild of Magdeburg
Meditatio
When Jesus cries out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he cries out for all of humanity. He cries out as all of humanity.
In this moment, he feels everything. He feels all of the agony, emptiness, and abandonment that we feel. He longs for God’s presence. He aches for God’s comfort.
In this moment, Jesus feels more alone than he has ever felt before, alone in his suffering, alone in his nakedness, and alone in his humanity.
In this moment, he feels the utter meaninglessness and hopelessness that we feel when we feel separated from God’s love.
And he feels this all for us. He hangs on the cross out of his love for us, in solidarity with us, and in communion with us.
So every time we feel a longing for something more, something deeper, and something real, every time we feel alone, abandoned, and unloved, aching for connection, meaning, and hope, we hang on the cross with Christ, saying with him, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
And our prayers do not go unheard. For our very longing for God is an echo of God’s longing for us.
This is the God, after all, who, since the beginning of time, has done everything in his power to bring us back into relationship with us. He has called us by name, pursued us through prophets and exile, and finally came himself — flesh and bone and longing — to hang beside us in our darkness, telling us all the while that it is not good for us to be alone, and that we are not alone.
Our longing, our pain, and our cries out to God do not go unheard. We have not been abandoned. We have not been forsaken. We are not left here to hang on our cross and to die alone.
And so the cry from the cross is not the sound of abandonment. It is the sound of God longing — in a human voice, with human tears — for the communion that has always been his deepest desire. It is God longing for us longing for God.
Through this mutual longing, we are promised redemption. We are promised reunion. We are promised resurrection.
Oratio
How long must I cry, Lord
how long must I cry your name
before you hear me
before you rescue me
from this loneliness
this vale of tears
why have you abandoned me
why have you forsaken me
but I know this is not true
I know you are still here
that you have never gone
that your love sustains me
why can I not feel you
why can I not see your face
yet, you say
yet
our time will come
your hour has not yet come
for now, rest
for now, trust
Contemplatio
In your cry of desolation, do you hear the echoes of God’s voice calling you home?
Related Scripture
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” — Isaiah 49:15–16 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Love Remains: Returning Home to the Love That Never Left You, which explores how God’s love never withdraws — even when we wander — and rejoices when we find our way back.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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