God in the Grief

Google defines "lament" as "a passionate expression of grief or sorrow".  What an evocative description of something so universally understood, both within and without a faith context.  Humanity certainly knows what it is to lament, and all the more after events like we've seen and experienced in the past year.

Not only is this "passionate expression of grief or sorrow" widely relatable, it's also a profoundly powerful thing to witness.  To be let into someone else's most vulnerable feelings of lament through artistic expression is an experience unlike any other.  It's one of the reasons why the Psalms of the Bible speak so strongly to many of us.

To me, there are few art forms which embody the spirit of lament so fully as Flamenco.  Flamenco is a genre of music, dance, and lyrics which originated from generations of oppression and poverty in the gypsy communities in southern Spain.  There are several different styles of Flamenco music, but one in particular is known for being deeply emotional and expressive - the "cante jondo" - and it exudes guttural grief and sorrow.  Even for those who don't understand the language, the pain of a cante jondo transcends words.  Manuel Agujetas* is a significant Flamenco artist known for his intense and deeply affected cante jondo singing:

The anguish is palpable, tangible, visceral.  It's a feeling not dissimilar to David's words in Psalm 6:

...my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish ...

... I am worn out from my groaning.  All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.  My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes ...

As we listen to the emotive voices of cante jondo singers, it's hard to miss a sense of Romans 8:26 in the despairing vocal cries:

...the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words ...

But here's where the art of Flamenco overlaps with biblical psalms in another unique way.  Authentic flamenco of all styles is often performed communally, with many people gathering to clap and stomp together, and call out in support of the main vocalist or dancer.  The clip below of famed Flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya* is a great example:

This is a striking illustration of the way biblical psalms, even laments, were shared collectively in community and worship.  In Leap Over a Wall, a fantastic book on David (who wrote many of the psalms), author Eugene Peterson says David had the people learn his lamentations and memorize them.  Ancient churches sang them communally together.  Peterson writes "What I do with my grief affects the way you handle your grief; together we form a community ..."  How many of us have seen the truth of that statement as we watch a loved one grieve and have our own relationship with grief affected as we come alongside them.

The expressions of a full range of psalm-style emotion in Flamenco, including grief in the cantes jondos, are shared collectively in community as well.  As one person sings or dances their joy, love, pleas, or pain, those around them cry out in solidarity, providing the rhythmic backbone for this intimate expression of humanity with percussive claps and stomps, interweaving with each other seamlessly.  Although it may feel familiar with emotions like joy or love to have others lend their voices to our celebrations, what an incredible picture this can also be in times of sadness - a community grieving together, lamenting together, and sharing each other's sufferings and sorrows.  May we all find a metaphorical Flamenco group where we can sing our rawest cante jondo with honesty, and hear a dozen echos of our most guttural cries.

*Though my examples bend toward older footage due to personal preference, there are plenty of modern Flamenco examples of each of these as well, a mere YouTube search away.