All My Tears

All My Tears

2/6/14

Painful moments in our lives are the ones that we cling to since as humans learn the most from these experiences.  Tears fall like rain is a common theme that we hear and as we shed these tears more likely that the people around us are shedding just as many as we are.  Tears are a symbol of an emotion that we have been graciously given and no one should ever be ashamed of showing this emotion.  Everyone on this planet will at some point play example to this emotion and let it be known that there is nothing wrong with displaying these tears.  It is important that we continue to keep this concept in our hearts and to also remember that even God cried while He was walking this earth.

Crying is a systematic emotion that actually represents a release and cleansing of our inner beings.  Crying has famously been labeled as a sissy emotion, one that girls only do.  How far from the truth this belief is for everyone has the ability to cry and in fact should cry on certain times of their life or for absolutely no reason at all.  Crying is good for the body and even though it may show sign of weakness to some it is the beginning of some type of healing process within.  Yes men, you need to cry as well for this emotion enables us to connect with everyone else in the world who has overcome this fear of letting out our emotions.  However, on the other side of the street there are those that use this emotion as a “gift” and will cry for no good reason or in order to get their way, which demeans the true emotion and the reason that we were instilled with this ability.

My wife and I love to watch old movies.  As I have said in the past that when I was young my parents begged me to watch these types of movies with them but I believed at that time I had more important things to do than watch movies with them.  I would give anything to reverse time and to heed their requests but I realize that there is no way that could be possible.  Both Bonnie and I ask our girls to watch movies with us and they have no problems with providing the same answer as I did to my parents when I was their age.  But sometimes we are lucky enough to convince them that the movie is a family type movie and they will sacrifice the time to watch it with us.

I love my wife for she is an extraordinary woman.  As many of our lives would attest her life was not the best when she was younger and she endured many pains.  And, many would say she still has a huge pain to deal with everyday by being married to me and for the most part I would have to agree with this assessment.  However, with all of the tough qualities Wyoming placed into her heart there are still some tender areas that emerge, not on the physical side of things but on the inner side of things; sad or tender moment movies being one of these settings when this side of her presents itself.

According to my daughter my wife is famous for busting out tears when certain moments of movies come into play.  My girls believe this is hilarious and will almost laugh at Bonnie when this occurs.  Up until a few weeks ago my daughters were so proud that they did not fall into this category, but then along came the movie “Where the Red Fern Grows” and one of my daughters had to take herself off of this platform.  I also have to admit that while I did not shed any tears my heart was broken to watch what happened to the two puppy dogs in that movie along with the emotional roller coaster that the entire family had to endure.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this emotion coming forth through a movie and one should not be ashamed of it for it is a part of your definition which forms your complete makeup. 

One would expect a person to cry when a sad moment of their life comes about such as a death in the family or some other tragedy that may affect a community or town.  But on the other side of the emotional playground tears of joy can be shed in the same fashion.  While the physical evidence of water running down our faces inflicts immediate responses of other to ask why that person is crying and why are they so sad.  But after the truth is told the happier side of those tears can be shared with others as well.  How confusing this might be to some who do not display this side of tears and some may even wish to demand that they stop that display of emotions in public.  Name calling or labels may even be placed upon these people but I am here to tell you that it is 100% ok to cry and everyone not only has the ability to cry but needs to cry every so often in order to maintain an inner stability.

We witness some sort of daily tragedy when we turn on our televisions or radios.  Our ears and eyes are continually filled with bad news or devastating conditions that humans have to endure.  Even watching infomercials has become a presentation of children and people crying in order to provide a better foundation for those to give to that specific organization.  While these types of displays of emotion on our eyes and ears are a constant it should not become a place for those to say harsh things about people who cry.  There is a reason why those people are crying and it should be known that for the most part those settings are justified for the emotions that have been portrayed.

I refer you back to an article I wrote a while ago that dealt with the life cycle of a leaf and how the weather seasons change the leaves on a tree and how these patterns allow the leaf to follow a natural pattern of change.  Eventually the leaf has lost all of its life and will fall to the ground as the wind tears it from its grasp from the limb.  Complete death of that leaf will soon follow as it lies on the ground.  While this cycle may be hard to grasp by some we need to understand that this diagram is present within our own lives and can be followed through the emotional release of tears.  Like the leaf a tear is a release from the confines within and will allow our inner bodies to start over in the emotional cycle of expectancy.  This emotion helps us cope with daily life that continues to incessantly and grotesquely beat upon us. Crying also allows our lives to present closure to an adverse experience especially when the time is ripe for healing.

In my early teenage years we lived in a town called Cleveland, Texas.  I have many fond memories of that place and go through there when I have the opportunity.  While we lived there I had a dog named Candy.  She was a pretty Cocker Spaniel but she had the idea in her head that she did not have to listen to my voice or any other human voice for that matter.  All of us knew that someday that rebellious nature of hers would get her into trouble and it was not too much later that this knowledge came true.  Candy and I were outside playing in the front yard and something caught her eye across the street.  She immediately began to head towards the front of the driveway as I called out her name for her to stop.  She ignored me and began her trek across the street just as a truck was going by the front of the house.

Sure enough Candy was hit and did not move again.  I ran out in the middle of the street and looked at her.  She recognized me and began to wag her tail.  I stood up and screamed at the truck as it continued its course away from the house; not stopping of course.  I then knelt back down and talked to her for a few seconds more until she was gone.  The light in her eyes just simply vanished and she lay there motionless, her life was over.  I began to ball my eyes out both in anger and in sorrow yet there was nothing I could do to change the situation. 

My father has used this story in a couple of his sermons because it has a powerful message about not heeding the voice of true authority and how it can lead to certain death.  I understand why Jesus cried for the city of Jerusalem and I also understand why He cried when the news of the death of John the Baptist reached Him.  In both instances the emotional loss from the truth comes into light and begins to display itself through tears.  The climax of this inner cycle must take place so that we may begin again and start afresh because without this emotional event we cannot get past what has occurred in our lives.

I have to admit that there are times that I just begin to ball when I am listening to certain songs.  I can feel the passionate truth well up inside me that it has nowhere else to go but out.  The songs are of true love and passion that Christ has for His Church and for every person in the world.  Yes I cry for my country when I read about the direction that she has chosen to go.  It breaks my heart to hear all of the decisions that she has made to exclude God from her inner life and at the same time gloriously embrace the ways of the world, all in the name of equality.  We have taken this extreme word and placed in front our laps and use it as a play word for our own selfishness.  Such a dangerous word that should be used and respected with the utmost regard yet we throw it around and flaunt our own personal and taunting meaning towards others.  We have ceased to cry for our country because we do not want to be labeled by others as sensitive.  What a true picture of inner destruction that this belief portrays.

Most of you know that I love the sport of soccer.  I have played the game since I was a young boy and I consider it to be my heart sport. There is a tournament every four years called the World Cup and it is the pinnacle of the sport.  It is every country’s dream to reach this tournament.  The expectations are extremely high and people have actually given their lives for this passion.  A few WCs back Spain had qualified for the tournament and was placed into a fairly decent group.  However, Spain goofed off and was in serious trouble and very close to not making it out of the group stages. 

The final game of the group stage was at hand and Spain had to win their match and get some further help from the other game in their group that was being simultaneously played.  Of course everyone in the stands were rooting for one or the other of the teams that were playing in the other game for the results of that game had implications for every team within the group.  Spain was winning its game in dramatic fashion.  They were making sure that their country knew that they were doing their part to reach the next round.  However, the other game in the group was not going Spain’s way in the manner that the one team that if they won Spain could not advance.  Sure enough that one team won their match and all of Spain’s hopes were dashed, even though Spain itself had crushed their own opponent.

After Spain’s match was completed the television went to commercials for a bit.  Shortly the channel returned to the stadium setting and the camera had instantly focused on one young man who was sitting in the crowd.  The young man was sitting in his seat with the flag of Spain wrapped around him.  He was balling in eyes out while simultaneously rocking back and forth in his seat.  Reality had hit and the truth that Spain was not advancing to the next round was setting in.  The pride that this young man had in his country was amazing and he had no problems what-so-ever in publicly displaying his love and disappointment for his country.  The young man had huge tears running down his face and while it might have seemed silly to some viewing him, the knowledge of a person loving his country enough to shed tears for is always a sign of love for country.

I also cry for the Church and all that she has done to incorporate herself into the world.  She has an identity crisis ongoing in which she is trying her best to correct her past mistakes and be more accessible to the world.  How cruel and false this belief is for while she tries to establish a door with the world she has not first repented for the sins of her past.  She cannot redeem herself in the manner that she needs until this occurs for it will only open old wounds and create new ones that will further divide her from her groom.  I cry for the sanctity of her life and what it means to her groom and how she is more attracted to placating her stance with the world instead of her groom.

These two conditions break my heart for both our country and the Church’s actions are directly related to each other and we refuse to open our eyes to see it.  We would rather spend the majority of our time trying to harbor our own selfish qualms and to justify them after the methods have been established.  We have purposefully thrown away the true morals of humanity in order to replace them with selfish intentions.  Do not believe me?  Take a look around and while leaving out your own selfishness watch and define how others conduct their lives.  Every act that we make has a worldly foundation now, not biblical.  If we choose to issue our demands in this manner, so be it but know that one day the truth will be made known.

It should not be difficult to understand why there is an attack and a standard being developed upon this specific emotion.  There are many examples in God’s Word where He cries over certain events and conditions that He has written about.  It is an emotion that brings us our identity and represents what is in our hearts.  So of course this is going to be an area in which our enemy attacks us.  If we cannot cry for our country, the Church and for own individual conditions then who can we cry for?  We need to cry for our country so that we may break the bonds that demand us not to even fly our own flag in public.  We need to cry for the Church since she has incorporated herself with the world because she has lost her mission statement and looking to redefine herself.  We need to cry for our own personal lives since we are the ones solely responsible for these terrible acts of personal degradation and spiritual destruction.

We need to realize that our time in this state is short and unless we change our tactics and return to our knees our lives will soon be riddled with devastation.  Without this emotion active within our lives it becomes impossible to know how to properly grieve for everything that we may encounter.  We become a living state of insensitivity that cannot relate to others or to our surroundings.  Imagine a personal state of individuality wrapped around a communal belief system that is locked up by insensitivity to our own inner being.  Do you know that the Bible addresses this same position and gives account of what transpires when this state is created? 

Pick an instance where God is trying to get the attention of Israel and think about why God is acting in this manner.  It is a rate of personal and national progression that humans have introduced and then adopted within their lives that is the root cause for this action being displayed by God.  It must be agreed that God is not a whimsical God and does things by “the seat of His pants” method.  There is nothing wrong with progression and in fact God requires it from His people but when it is accomplished through worldly means and selfish methods only disaster results.  Want proof?  Ask any human democracy, communist state, Marxist state, fascist state in human history and their results will tell you.

It is God’s desire that we cry and it is God’s ears that will hear a true cry that comes from our hearts.  The question that remains is one of personal desire and where your desires lie; in God or in man.  If any part of your desires relies upon man, God still hears this cry but know that this cry will build and will be part of our fortune from God.  God also hears the cry of the righteous person and this too will be part of our fortune from God.  This brings into play what the fortune of God will bring to His people.  Since God is a righteous and holy being and cannot change His laws, I believe that the evidence is clear what our fortunes will be brought upon us.  There is still time to change our fortuitous status in the eyes and ears of God and I strongly suggest that we begin to cry out to God in repentance and for restoration of our land before it is too late.

DLB