Matthew
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.
The Psalmist
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
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The death of God is real. How could it not be? We are left to defend for ourselves against all of it. Against terrorism, more terrorism, the threat of nuclear warfare, suicidal pilots, antibiotic resistant bacteria, deadly crashes on the interstate, all things I heard on the news within a ten minute drive.
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Once, in a bowling alley, the song Chop Suey! by System of a Down came on, and the minister who had taken us on this excursion was mortified by the lines, "Why have you forsaken me, in your eyes forsaken me, in your thoughts forsaken me, in your heart forsaken me." Maybe if it was a gut wrenching ballad sung by Chris Tomlin and not a rock/metal song, he would've approved.
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Being just and being loving don't actually go together very well unless you fold into the definition of love something like a father who spanks the child he loves because it is what is best for the child's future or whatever. In that case, I don't really understand what love is. My mother told me she spanked me because she loved me, but I like to think that she spanked me because this world is a fucked a place.