The Dead Walking

Rev. Valerie Robideaux

My husband and I are big fans of the AMC show, The Walking Dead. Well, let me correct this statement. Thrilled to learn of the new zombie apocalypse series, my husband urged me to view the horrific scenes and I somehow lost myself in the emotional angst of the drama. The series is set in the outskirts of Atlanta, GA during the aftermath of an epidemic that leaves over 90% of humanity in a resurrected zombie state postmortem. Following a group of survivors, viewers watch with anticipation (possibly through their hand covered eyes, like me) during the survivors’ endless search for life and signs of hope in the midst of chilling and devastating debris. Life as they knew it is over and they are left to figure out life in this new reality.

As I read Lauren Winner’s chapter on the Jewish practice of avelut/mourning, I was surprisingly reminded of The Walking Dead. She states, “While you the mourner are still bawling your eyes out and slamming fists into the wall, everyone else, understandably, forgets and goes back to their normal lives and you find, after all those crowds of people, that you are left alone” (Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath, 28). Have you ever lost someone close to you and at times felt like you are walking dead? Mourners can almost take on a zombie like state in their grief, carrying the foggy weight of sorrow, bereavement, and anguish while everyone else forgets and goes about normal routines. For the mourner, life as she knew it is over and she is left to figure out how to live in this new reality.

Winner encourages the Christian church to develop a ritual of mourning that honors the beautiful theological reality of death and resurrection. A crucial part of Christianity is the act of remembrance. To remember is to recall, to participate with, and to act in solidarity with the past, present, and future. While a Christian people are quick to jump from death to resurrection, Winner challenges the church to remember the present, the in between.

The season of Lent is a season dedicated to remembering the in between; to participate with and act in solidarity with the past, present, and future, to carry the foggy weight together allowing it to disrupt our normal routines.

Who do you know that may still be grieving after you have resumed life again?

During this season of Lent, how can you remember this person and honor their mourning?