Cry

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

18 O my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.

19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
"Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?"

22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?

9:1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.

Humans have several gifts unique in the animal world, and one of them is the crying of emotional tears. Perhaps this could be debated, but no scientific studies attribute this ability to any other earthly creature.

Crying stinks. At least that's the way I've always felt about it.

As one man responded on our "what women need to know about men," survey from a few weeks ago: "Crying is not fair."

But it is a reality, for all of us.

We manly men (that's me, right?), don't like to cry, much less let anyone see us. Crying is a loss of control. It is vulnerability.

That loss of control and vulnerability screams out from the verses of today's scripture.

And that's really a good thing. There are times when we all share the hurt that the prophet Jeremiah displays for us. The truth is, there are thing in life, and in our world that should move us to tears. We are vulnerable, and any ideas of control are just illusions.

What a foolish goal: to become so wooden and stone-hearted that we lose an essential human attribute -- our tears.

There is always good news in scripture, even after the worst of laments. God does restore his people and the exile Jeremiah had to proclaim would one day come to an end.

There will be moments when we will ask whether any "balm" exists to heal our wounds. It does. It always does. The physician, our Father, does not ever leave us. One day, scripture tells us, "he will wipe their tears away, and crying will be no more."

If there are tears, let them come. Joy lives just on the other side.

Prayer: God our Father, we seek the "Balm of Gilead" that can heal our wounds. Help us acknowledge our responsibility in sin, and to know how completely you seek to forgive us. May this day be one of peace and reconciliation.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Tomorrow's Scripture ( no blog ): Jeremiah 9:23-24

We'll see you this Sunday at SOTH! Worship at 9 and 11 AM with Sunday School for everybody between services at 10:15!