Readings for 20th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/6/13: Lamentations 1:1-6, Psalm 137, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10 Lamentations 1:1-6: Lamentations are written in a time of exile, chaos, unrest, confusion, etc., for the people of Judah and Jerusalem and communities in that region, as Babylon takes over and takes people away from their homes. These laments are written in this context. The imagery is sad and bittersweet. "How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!" A ghost-town. Have you ever lived an a community that has been through some horrible devastation? Think of some towns in Mississippi and Louisiana post-Katrina, or even towns that have had major industries shut down. My childhood town of Westernville, NY could match this description in some ways, just out of decline over the years, rather than any event, but it is still sad to drive through town and see the empty streets and crumbling houses. The city is feminine, of course, a princess that is now a
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