Why weep?

“Weeping has an honored place in the life of faith.”

In reading Becky Harling’s book, Rewriting Your Emotional Script, I’m being consistently moved and challenged to really look at why I do what I do…and why I respond (or react) to life the way I do.  Her book is based on the Beatitudes and how God used them to walk her through a painful healing of 12 years of sexual abuse while undergoing seven surgeries for breast cancer. Her story was inspiring, to say the least.

So, the thought I’ve been ruminating on, is why Christians struggle with grief and lament.  Why is it, that out of all the emotional channels we flip through, grieving, sorrow, and weeping seem to make people the most uncomfortable? And it’s not just those outside watching that squirm…when we deal with sadness and true sorrow ourselves, I think we are often at a loss! We’re not sure we should “allow” ourselves to feel sad or experience pain…as if that somehow negates the life Jesus died to give us. 

Yet, in generations past, weeping was part of the Christian experience. So, I wonder,  Am I not allowing myself to feel as deeply as God wants me to, or am I merely holding back in an effort to maintain control?  I cherish the times God moves my heart so strongly that I am moved to tears…it usually catches me off guard. But how many other moments pass me by due to my own insensitivity?

So then: Why are we afraid to cry?