Day 6:
Wept So Loudly
“I went inside
my heart
to see how it was. Something there makes me hear the whole world weeping.” ― Rumi |
Joseph wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard
it. [Genesis 45.3]
There are days
when the weight of the world gets to me.
Those days when
the winter’s darkness denies what little joy there is in the season.
Some times, nights
last longer than they should.
If I’m honest,
and I’m about to be, when these times of nights disrupt my sleep, it is easy
for me to weep.
Growing up in a
time when boys were supposed to grit their teeth and not show any emotion, I’ve
always been a sensitive person—acutely aware of those around me.
Some times my
sensitivity gets the best of me.
But there is no
shame in crying. No weakness in weeping.
Tears are your
body’s release valve for stress, sadness, grief, anxiety, and frustration.
And crying, as
many health professionals will tell you, actually crying makes us feel better,
even when a problem persists.
Advent is the
one season when I am the weepiest. Purposefully waiting with eyes open and ears
tuned to the rhythms of the world, my heart is tenderized at the realization of
how many ache to be seen, hurt to be heard, and weep just to be loved. I enter
into advent expecting to encounter all the emotions many of the characters we
meet along the way felt.
Despair. Joy.
Sadness. Delight. Worry. Excitement. Uncertainty. Assurance.
I think the
only way to really get the word of
the day, one must read a little before and after verse 3.
45Then
Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and
he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’ So no one stayed with him when
Joseph made himself known to his brothers.2And he wept so loudly
that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3Joseph
said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers
could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Reconciliation
instead of revenge.
It became so
much for Joseph, the hatred from his brothers, their kidnapping of him, and
even their failed attempt to murder him, as
we all their settling to sell him into slavery, he had no response
but to
weep.
And friends,
sometimes that is all we can find energy to do.
It is okay to
cry.
It is even okay
to weep.
After all,
weeping may
last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
***
Often, I
imagine my tears rolling off my cheek and into the baptismal pool in which I
was claimed. The photo is of the font from our chapel at work. As the waters of
baptism heal, so do the tears we shed.
No comments:
Post a Comment