Speaker Series: Living Laments
7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Parish Center "Living Laments: a way to find healing from unexpected and undeserved suffering" |
During this discussion we will explore the shattering experience of unexpected and undeserved suffering, and the role of biblical lament as a healing medium in coming to terms with grief like no other. How can our laments of biblical proportion turn into occasions of grace? How can “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46) be uttered along with “You are my God whose mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). Avis will explore living our laments from pain to promise.
Avis Clendenen (Ph.D. and D. Min., Chicago Theological Seminary) is Professor of Religious Studies at Saint Xavier University. She is the author of Experiencing Hildegard: Jungian Perspectives (2009), co-author with Sister Irene Dugan, R.C. of Love Is All Around in Disguise: Meditations for Spiritual Seekers (2004), and co-author with Troy W. Martin of Forgiveness: Finding Freedom through Reconciliation (2002). Her article Accidental Killers and Their Long Lament is forthcoming in the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling and is a chapter in the forthcoming book Forgiving God: Healing Fractures in the Divine Human Relationship, co-authored with Troy W. Martin.