Sackcloth and Ashes

What happened to sackcloth and ashes?

What happened to being able to wail? Lamentations 2:19 says "Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord." This isn't some passive, single tear down the cheek.

I feel like some situations call for more than just dressing in black for a day, giving a hug, shedding a tear, sending a card that doesn't seem like enough. "Sorry that so-and-so died...I'm thinking of you." Yeah it may be nice to know there are people around to support you, but we have to send a card to say that? Sympathy cards are stupid.

Job's friends came to see him after his life was demolished, and they wailed and tore their clothes and sprinkled dust on their heads. They sat with him on the ground for seven days and didn't speak 'because they saw how great his suffering was.'

This isn't passive grief - this is raw emotion unleashed. Who decided that we have to be strong or hold everything inside? That's crap.

It's not that we have to don a robe made out of goat's hair and pour dirt on our heads...but what are our sackcloth and ashes? Do we even show our intense grief when we feel it? Do we show our sorrow for our friends and neighbors when they are in desperate pain?

Life sucks sometimes. There is hope and we don't have to wallow in grief, but we don't have to ignore it either.