Morning Brew: Monday, Nov 9

Have you had a good cry lately? Crying is incredibly under appreciated today. Seen in society as a sign of weakness and fragility, we tell our kids that “boys don’t cry” and “big girls don’t cry.” While I’m not advocating a life of misery, a good cry every once in awhile can be incredibly therapeutic and even healing.

11 My eyes fail from weeping,

    I am in torment within;

my heart is poured out on the ground

    because my people are destroyed,

because children and infants faint

    in the streets of the city. Lamentations 2:11

In the book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah laments (hence the name) the fall of Jerusalem. That’s it. That’s the book. It’s a man weeping over the destruction and loss of the city he’s known his whole life. Why did Lamentations make the Bible as a book?

Because emotions matter. Your emotions matter. Life isn’t always rainbows and roses. Sometimes life just sucks. Sometimes things don’t work out. Sometimes we lose our loved ones way too soon. Sometimes we can’t see the silver lining. Sometimes there’s no explanation given, and we’re left with the crushing weight of circumstances beyond our ability to bear.

That’s life in a sinful, broken, messed up world. And so we cry, and crying is okay. Crying actually releases toxins, lightens your mood, and relieves stress. God designed us to cry. The other option is to bottle everything up, get mad, let that anger ferment into bitterness, and watch that bitterness to eat away at us like a cancer.

Crying can be good and necessary, so lighten up on yourself. Be a man, cry. Be a big girl, cry. Jeremiah did it, we can too. Have you had a good cry lately?

Prayer: God, hear my cries and catch my tears as I call out to you.