Through Stained Glass: Advent Word of the Day-Wept So Loudly

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.