{"id":1171,"date":"2013-10-05T22:34:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T22:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/10\/the-modern-need-for-lamentations.html"},"modified":"2013-10-05T22:34:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-05T22:34:00","slug":"the-modern-need-for-lamentations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/10\/the-modern-need-for-lamentations.html","title":{"rendered":"The Modern Need for Lamentations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Twenty first century readers of the Scriptures are likely uncomfortable with the book of Lamentations and its stories of weeping, groaning, and grieving. But, the act of lamenting is not unique to biblical Israelites.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Today\u2019s world is full of lament-worthy situations.\u00a0 One need only turn on the nightly news to hear countless stories from places like Detroit, Michigan and Camden, New Jersey \u2013 plagued by record foreclosures, abandoned buildings, corrupt government officials, and boarded up businesses \u2013 to understand the devastating impact of high unemployment, increased crime, and precarious civic finances that have taken a toll on communities.\u00a0 Further, the country\u2019s working poor earn wages that are so meager they have a hard time providing basic necessities for their families. Many cannot make ends meet without help from public assistance programs, which ultimately leads to feelings of despair and a decreased sense of self-worth.\u00a0 Modern readers also lament over:<\/span><\/div>\n