Journal Exercise

1. Read Psalm 79 aloud, slowly and contemplatively. (Full text found here.) Spend some time with the text.
2. Note in your journal what emotions the Psalm evokes in you. 
3. Reflect and record in your journal: to what current event, news story, or recent headline might this Psalm apply today? Another way of asking the same question: What contemporary issue, concern, circumstance, or situation deserves national lament?*
4. In your own words, write an antiphon** (fifteen words or less) that laments the event or issue upon which you reflected in (3) above. 
5. Think and record in your journal: what does the antiphon you have written in (4) say about one of the four theological themes/subdisciplines discussed in class (theology, cosmology, ecclesiology, or anthropology)? That is, what does your antiphon say or suggest about God? about the world/cosmos? about the church/community? about human beings?
6. Choose a sound or an instrument to express your lament. Name or describe the sound or instrument.
7. Re-read Psalm 79 aloud, slowly and contemplatively, beginning and ending with your antiphon. 

*Recall that Psalms of lament typically contain three elements: a crying out to God in the midst of pain/suffering/violence/etc., the naming of a just complaint, and concluding with a turn to hope.

**Recall that an antiphon is a thematic refrain to be repeated at the beginning and end of a Psalm when it is prayed aloud.