A FEMININE JEREMIAD:

A Lament towards Honorable Self-Restraint

• 1 Corinthians 1:27: “for God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things that are mighty...”

• A “Jeremiad” is a lament over distress or harm, at least how I experience that term. The word “jeremiad” is taken from the sorrows of the Jeremiah. The Biblical prophet Jeremiah did just this, in his sorrow over the rebellion of the tribe of Judah and their refusal to hear his warnings from God, over approaching calamity.

• It is strange how I have a kinship with some of the “depressoes” of the Bible: Elijah, Gideon, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Even Christ Himself dealt with grief, considering all He took on. Being a deep thinker and an empath…lots of fun!!

• The Christian faith is a warrior faith all the way, it is not “baby Jesus, meek and mild.” Just what Christ alone endured on behalf of all us rebellious critters...is a masterful case of OVERWHELM. What a terrible mess humans have made of this world! Why does God love us??? I admit, I have often wondered this.

• Following God and His Son is a journey of learning to walk in honorable self-restraint, curbing our unbridled appetites, step by step. Food, sex, money, influence, power, social class, a formidable pile of appetites to blast us!

  This does not indicate “dour” or “doleful.” This does, however, mean we cannot have everything we want, when we want it. It is understandably a difficult learning curve. The rewards are formidable but not remotely easy to achieve. This is why we have to admit we cannot do this on our own, we must partner in fellowship with God!

  I am a rueful survivor of the lack of wisdom of my Boomer youth, diving full force into rampant self-indulgence, with many sex partners from age 18 to 28, and the entire tour of sex, drugs and rock and roll. I had to reach rock bottom with it all and “collapse on God’s front porch” in despair after 35 years of “ “doing it my way” as a Prodigal to my Christian faith. Not wise, not fun, not “hip”, and from my own visceral experience, “hip” is all marketing anyway!

• The marketing machine of the devil was going full-force in my youth, all aimed at the destruction of my generation, from the Vietnam War ( my brother Tommy died in Vietnam in 1968) and all the attendant madness of the sexual revolution, which overwhelmed all measure of modern culture. Women and men were pressured, in a perverse “twist”, to “conform” , to “do your own thing” and to break down social and intimate barriers. The result of this was emotional chaos and breakdown of social norms, which then flowed into every corner of society, like the plague it was. I was flattened by it and so were my friends, even though we at the time, thought it was just “groovy.”

• Nope.

• The prophet Jeremiah had a difficult assignment, of warning the rebellious children of Judah...and he had depression. Elijah also did and he fled into the wilderness after a great victory. I must be in good company! Gideon, when spoken to by an angelic visitor who greeted him with “mighty man of God”, said “where??” Don’t tell me the Bible is not quite hilarious in places!!

• I can relate, after wandering in the shadows for so long. I still struggle with depression, discouragement and lack of solid self worth. I do not hate myself...and yet, I still do not find great worth in myself.

• Following God and His Son is not an immediate cessation of all travail and trouble! It is a gradual process of walking with God and enduring His refining process, step by step, as He mercifully pours His love on you, easing the journey.

  Jeremiah’s sorrowful laments had deep meaning, reflecting not only on the much- loved but rebellious children of the land of Judah, who had been warned repeatedly but were moving headlong into disaster. Very unpleasant invasion by very unpleasant barbarians was coming. I can certainly see the very same chaos of the world in 2025, the rebellion running at top speed toward very bad results. I emotionally feel the turmoil.

  In fact this past Wednesday evening, as I was at my church, waiting for my friends to arrive for the Wednesday Discipleship group, one of my friends arrived early. He is the husband of my dear mentor, who went Home to Heaven back in May 2021. I know he misses her terribly and at age 78, he has his own health challenges, coming into church not feeling that great (not contagious but difficulty breathing). Long story short, as I myself was dealing my own emotional “crud,” he and I had a handful of verbal ripostes back and forth. He was needling me, and I shoved back. Not my finest hour...is putting it mildly. I actually wanted to walk out and go home... Suddenly my friend got quiet and simply put some worship music on his phone...instrumental versions of classic Christian hymns from my childhood in the Baptist church long ago...before grief and rebellion and sorrow enveloped me for so many years. The tears immediatly began in my eyes...a sure sign of the dear presence of Holy Spirit. My sorrow was lifted and I let God wash over me. I blessed my friend once the prayer group began, as he had tears in his eyes as well. The main hymn that floored me was “ Sweet Hour of Prayer”, and what a desperately needed and prescient reminder of how deeply we need our connection with God...we cannot do this on our own!

  God is not stupid. His Son Jesus Christ chose some mighty flawed characters to lead His ministries. The men and women He called, were quite the random and rough-hewn pieces of work, not neat and pristine. The Bible is a rogues gallery, to some degree...but that alone, offers hope for the rest of us “grundoons.” Hence why I cling to 1 Corinthians 1:27, which clearly states that God chose the weak and the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty (I am one of them!) Quite a different business plan, yes? It makes sense to me as a right-brain empath...but likely not for the logicians of the world!

  I could easily look back on my rowdy history and collapse in self- castigation, sinking in the mire of my own flaws. I cannot keep up with the demands of this material realm. I get severely tempted to do that, to collapse and give up....but God has strengthened me enough to resist that awful place, the place of surrender to the darkness.

  Life is certainly a “learn by doing” place and no way around it, we have to plunge in and swim. Even treading water is better than not moving at all. I am excellent at remaining static...but nope, not a great idea. I observe so much of the world, the West especially, that sticks with the tried and true, often to bad results. Innovation, yes, but deep self reflection, not so much. That is not navel-gazing...but it is needed.

  I simply, like a little kid, despite my age of nearly 73, hold fast to God, often in desperation...and my own “jeremiad” is to simply cry out and ask my dear fellow humans...to grab God’s hand and say “HELP ME, PAPA, I cannot do this by myself!” He can and He will and He does.

  Wendy Elizabeth Williams Friday, October 10, 2025

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