Who Weeps for You?
John 11:35
"Jesus wept."
Been thinking about Psalm 107 and crying out to the Lord. Crying is the operative word to receiving God's mercy and compassion.
In an eternal sense, we are truly babies. This life is merely infancy of eternity. Babies have one true mode of expressing negative emotions and conditions. Crying. More crying. In stores, in planes. I joke to Lina that I am going to wear those noise canceling headphones around the house that you see on planes in case we have kids. If the crying can't break the decibel level, my reasoning is that the crying can't be that critical. I know, heartless.
If a baby cries and and no one provides comfort, succor, and resolution of the problem, the baby begins to learn that just because he or she has needs and wants, there is no guarantee that these needs and wants are going to be met. Just because the diaper is full don't mean a change is going to happen.
This is a harsh life lesson. I suppose one of the saddest places for people to be is where no one cries for us. A dry funeral, attended out of function and duty...not loss and grieving. Or, no one showing up at all. Now that is depressing.
I recently had an in-depth conversation with a man out at a Starbucks in California who is a refugee from Iran. He had lost his job in the Iranian Education Ministry two years ago because he refused to sign off on a dubious study about Astrology being conducted by a relative of a muckety-muck mullah in Tehran. Basically, the relative was primarily stuffing cash into his personal account under the pretext of research. The man's non-signing off of the approval document eventually led to his dismissal. He spoke of the harsh struggles of the people in Iran being oppressed by religious leaders and system. As a man with a Ph.D., he now works part-time in an auto parts store while he seeks to rebuild his life in America.
"Each chapter of the Qur'an begins with "Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate," and before fulfilling religious obligations the Muslim recites, "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate." This man mentioned the horrible irony that the leaders in Iran, and their Apparatchik, are not merciful and compassionate. He, as a result, disavows all theistic religious belief.
I tried to lamely witness to the man from Psalm 2 how God laughs at the Kings of the world who think they are the final authority. I wanted to let the Iranian man know that God will dash the tyrants to pieces like cheap pottery through Christ's return, if not before. In reflection, I am thinking it might have also been wise to point him to this verse in John where Jesus cries over the death of a friend. Truly merciful and compassionate. A God who weeps...over us. Who weeps for the people of Iran and all others in the world whose necks are under the boot of an oppressor.
Who weeps for you? Better yet, who do you weep for?
"Jesus wept."
Been thinking about Psalm 107 and crying out to the Lord. Crying is the operative word to receiving God's mercy and compassion.
In an eternal sense, we are truly babies. This life is merely infancy of eternity. Babies have one true mode of expressing negative emotions and conditions. Crying. More crying. In stores, in planes. I joke to Lina that I am going to wear those noise canceling headphones around the house that you see on planes in case we have kids. If the crying can't break the decibel level, my reasoning is that the crying can't be that critical. I know, heartless.
If a baby cries and and no one provides comfort, succor, and resolution of the problem, the baby begins to learn that just because he or she has needs and wants, there is no guarantee that these needs and wants are going to be met. Just because the diaper is full don't mean a change is going to happen.
This is a harsh life lesson. I suppose one of the saddest places for people to be is where no one cries for us. A dry funeral, attended out of function and duty...not loss and grieving. Or, no one showing up at all. Now that is depressing.
I recently had an in-depth conversation with a man out at a Starbucks in California who is a refugee from Iran. He had lost his job in the Iranian Education Ministry two years ago because he refused to sign off on a dubious study about Astrology being conducted by a relative of a muckety-muck mullah in Tehran. Basically, the relative was primarily stuffing cash into his personal account under the pretext of research. The man's non-signing off of the approval document eventually led to his dismissal. He spoke of the harsh struggles of the people in Iran being oppressed by religious leaders and system. As a man with a Ph.D., he now works part-time in an auto parts store while he seeks to rebuild his life in America.
"Each chapter of the Qur'an begins with "Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate," and before fulfilling religious obligations the Muslim recites, "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate." This man mentioned the horrible irony that the leaders in Iran, and their Apparatchik, are not merciful and compassionate. He, as a result, disavows all theistic religious belief.
I tried to lamely witness to the man from Psalm 2 how God laughs at the Kings of the world who think they are the final authority. I wanted to let the Iranian man know that God will dash the tyrants to pieces like cheap pottery through Christ's return, if not before. In reflection, I am thinking it might have also been wise to point him to this verse in John where Jesus cries over the death of a friend. Truly merciful and compassionate. A God who weeps...over us. Who weeps for the people of Iran and all others in the world whose necks are under the boot of an oppressor.
Who weeps for you? Better yet, who do you weep for?
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