Kriah

The following words are from the local church, Mars Hill, Grand Rapids, MI. I thought this was a pretty cool practice that they are incorporating into their Lenten season.

"Kriah is the practice in traditional Jewish mourning where immediate family members of the deceased tear their clothing. Also known as the "rending of garments", it is a physical and visible demonstration of grief.
Immediately preceding a burial, those practicing kriah have their outer clothing torn—this tearing happens while the mourner is standing, to symbolize their facing grief head-on. The mourner continues wearing the torn clothing for days, weeks, or even a year afterward; among other purposes, this serves as a sign to the mourner's community that a loss is still recent and fresh.
So "torn" is the idea: when tragedy and sadness and grief intersect a life, there is a rip made that cannot be undone or fully mended. At the same time, however, kriah has its limits. Contained to the outer garment only, it signifies that despite pain and torn-ness the inner person, the spirit can still be whole.
This year during Lent, as part of our community's observance of the season we're adopting the meaning and metaphor of kriah. Because Lent is a time for remembering our own mortality and for identifying with the suffering of Christ, we're using torn fabric to remind ourselves of the scope of death and grief. Join us this season in kriah, remembering both that we carry always the marks of our pain and that we are loved by a God who, through Christ, was torn too."


Our heavenly Father is into Tikkun Olam (restoring the broken pieces and repairing creation back to harmony). As the Lighthouse continues to share its brokenness one to another (inside AND outside our gathering times), let's be reminded that Jesus is the way, truth and life, the one who has made it possible for us to be broken, but healed, express our enslaved thinking while giving us the way to freedom. The Lord desires for us to be in this continual process of healing within our minds, bodies and souls every second of every day. And, I simply want to reiterate that we are ALL in the same boat. We are ALL fragile. We are all one step away from walking away. We are all one choice closer to depravity. YET, WE ARE ALL RIGHTEOUS, HOLY AND BELOVED BY OUR LORD WHO WRAPS US IN LIGHT WITH HIS UNFAILING LOVE.

This Lighthouse family is a part of the ripping and the repairing b/c we are rooted in the Great Physician, the one who bore our sins, and the one who abides within us this very day to grant us wholeness. Thank you guys for allowing me the chance to be vulnerable, raw, torn and a bit messy w/ you all last night. That's not easy for me as the western church-culture has somewhat made it difficult for pastors to break... I appreciate your prayers, and thank you for your sweet mercy. As Jesus was declared the WOUNDED HEALER, let us all be that one to another...

shalom
Ryan