I watched the news last night and saw the tremendous sadness in the faces of those affected by the cyclone in India. So far from here, their stories neatly contained in an electronic box in my living room, it was difficult to feel the depths of their pain. The interpretations coming from the reporter all said the same thing. “This man lost everything and everyone. His entire family is gone”. Pictures showed the destruction but like most cases of major catastrophes, the images that flash by in seconds show little of the real scope of the devastation. The helpless feeling in me lasted only about as long as the news report.
But I couldn’t forget this. There were so many tears. The language that I couldn’t understand became clear because I know the meaning of tears. Nobody has to teach us how to cry. It just comes. It can be brought on by loss, sadness, grief, pain, fear, and anger. It just happens. Tears can be a common bond between worlds, between people that will never ever come in contact with one another.
God puts empathy in our hearts. He creates compassion for those around us in need. While we might not be able to be a shoulder for someone in India to cry on, we can show compassion, love and patience for those in our lives right now. The Bible encourages us to weep with those who weep and laugh with those who laugh.
Nobody has to teach us to laugh, either. I was around a fifteen-month-old little girl the other night. She was so cool. Smiled a lot and didn’t cause much of a fuss at all. She was happy and obviously didn’t realize the stock market was in trouble, that gas prices continue to soar, that Christmas shopping was about to begin and I haven’t done anything! She laughed instinctively at nothing. I didn’t have to sit and point out to her “See, this is funny”. She just laughed.
It’s Thanksgiving. In our lives there is a lot to cry about and hopefully, there are some things to laugh about, too. While those two things come naturally, we do have to learn how to be thankful. Sometimes it’s just takes a subtle reminder that there’s a lot to be thankful for. I’ve had holidays where I couldn’t wait for them to pass. Then I just decided to say “Thanks”. Find the time this week to thank God for simple things – everyday things. The list is endless. It just might comfort your aching heart and dry those tears. And maybe, in the middle of saying “thank you” you might have a good laugh or two.
Blessings
Wayne
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Nobody Has to Teach Us How to Cry
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3 comments:
Thank you for sharing your walk... You have a way with your words as if I were there...I pray that your walk be grounded completely in the Lord! I pray that your travels are safe and prosperous in the Lord's harvest! I hope you find each day refreshing in His Word and in knowing you have many standing beside you in your ministry. You were blessed with some awesome talents and I want you to know that you have fellow members of Christ, praying for your walk to Glory! One day..We shall look upon His Face...And Live!!!
In Christ..
God be With You!
Nobody has to teach us how to cry...so very very true. It's funny though, how the tears can turn into laughter. This Thanksgiving was a hard one to get through for me. It was the first one without my dad. I was crying, and missing him that day. I talked with my brother and then we remembered that if dad were still with us, we would be watching the football games together and we would be talking to dad only to look over and see that he fell asleep! A quick "wake up dad" was all that was needed to tell him about the play that he missed, and then he falls back to sleep. That made us laugh and the hurt of not having him there seemed less. So tears are very healing. You know that. Tears are a great gift from God.
I am going to assume that the pictures of those two boys are your grandsons. I can see some family resemblance. They are very cute; they also look like they have endless energy! I hope that you had a blessed Thanksgiving.
Elizabeth
What a statment. No, nobody has to teach us to cry, God built that into us. Maybe he saw it would be a release of pain in the human body, or maybe he knew that it would be a way to heal a broken heart. I am one that has drowned in my own tears at times. I have lost all of my family over the years and am now the only living survivor. So I would just cry at times like holidays and such. I cannot imagine the grief the people in India are feeling. But then I can. But God supplies new ways to heal and when all the tears are done falling for a time, he moves in and makes it all new again. Maybe it is a rebirth like being baptized, after all tears are the water of our body. I can now move on as God has taken a lot of the pain away and he has given me the gift of art and I tend to drown in that and in my studies at our local university. But weeping, crying, whatever you want to call it, is healing, and I think if we all cried more often we might feel a bit more clean and pain free, especially when it comes to the heart and the emotions. I know I have found it to be healing and a gift from the creator that knows all. I also have a question for you Wayne. Will you ever give another concert in West Monroe, Louisiana? I live in Monroe and it would be great to have a concert that is easy for your fans here to get to. I rememeber one at the First Baptist Church in West Monroe a few years ago and it was great. Monroe, West Monroe are two cities that are very lacking in Christian entertainment and we need all we can get here. Just a thought you might consider. I also found your comments on water to be very interesting. I do not think I have ever heard a musician speak on the subject of water. I have studied for years to be a geologist and I know several PHd's that know a whole world about ground water and the water shed and they could give you a whole lecture the use of it and how we are slowing dwindling down our freshwater sources. The world does not seem to have the need for many geologist sometimes, but believe me when the drinking water becomes endangered, the geologist will be the ones that people will be asking for. We need to conserve all we can and also pray for those countries that do not have the convenience that we have of turning on the tap for a drink or a bath. We are blessed here in America beyond what we are worth and we do not even see it. Yes I am thankful for the water that God supplies each day for all of us. That is a good subject to talk about and you made some good points. Thanks for your blog and for letting us post our thoughts back to you. May the road you walk be one of love and peace this holiday season. I study native american languages too and I will add this, Ya'ateeh Kishmish which is Merry Christmas in Navajo and also Wacan tanka kici un, which is May God bless you richly in Lakota. Take care, Margaret Clary, ULM, Monroe
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