Card, a singer and songwriter, maintains that Christians have forgotten the language of weeping and so are "robbed of our true identity before God"; he prescribes an antidote through paradigms of lament found in Scripture. When sin and dire circumstances cause us to doubt God's hesed, or loving-kindness, lament is a proper response to despair. Without lament, Card claims, we cannot adequately confess sin, worship or experience another's pain. With this in mind, Card illustrates the hows and whys of sorrowful prayer in the lives of Job, David, Jeremiah and Jesus. Long on exposition (what does it mean that "the Word became flesh?") with a touch of speculation (David's personality is attributed in part to his being a youngest child), these chapters chart terrain that will seem foreign to proponents of easy, feel-good Christianity. Especially jarring are sections about imprecatory Psalms ("The righteous will be glad... when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked") and the book of Lamentations, which describes compassionate women boiling their own children. Card illuminates a neglected, difficult doctrine, in the process accomplishing his goal of providing "assurance that we can lament... and a fuller understanding of what that can mean." Appendixes summarize biblical and extra-biblical laments. (Publisher's Weekly)

I found this to be a helpful study of lamentation through the Scriptures, especially in the lives of Job, David, Jeremiah and Jesus. Though Card gets a bit too mystical for me at times, he has strong Scriptural support for his thesis that in the Western church we have taught people that it's not OK to have sorrow. We teach our children not to cry and they never get over it. By tracing the lamentations of four key figures in Scripture he shows the value of laying your sorrows at the throne of God as another form of worship.
The appendices alone are worth the price of the book. ( )

Card's premise is that modern US Christians have lost touch with an ancient practice of the Church--that of lament. Expressions of sorrow are not often welcomed in the Christian community, yet the Bible and history shows that expressions of lament are often useful ways for people to draw nearer to God. In a thoughtful manner Card discusses how the practice of lament is shown in the lives of people in the Bible, discussing passages that are often glossed over because of the brutality of the actions and emotion that is shown. (For example: The righteous will be glad... when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked from the Psalms). I appreciated Card's message that life isn't always pretty, and that open expressions of feeling, sorrow, and even anger before God are not inappropriate. Card brings an important perspective to the realm on modern day worship. I recommend this to Christians with open minds who are thoughtful about their faith and life. ( )