In his excellent Arguing with God: A Theological Anthropology of the Psalms (39-40), Bernd Janowski quotes this wisdom from Ottmar Fuchs: “Recognition of disastrous realities that does not go through the lament is lethal and irresponsible. An association with God in which no conflictual dialogues are possible is shallow and far from real life: Abstinence from lament means loss of relationships and of life.”
Then this: “A human being cannot, because of his psychological structures and historical nature, in short because of his conditio humana , praise God spontaneously in a moment of distress; to demand this would be inhumane and would eventually lead to a break in the communication between the human person, who lives through and endures time, and God.” But in the movement of a lament Psalm, the shift from lament to praise, do we have a human (temporal) expression of grief, distress, and indignation.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…