Today’s
Scripture Reading (April 3, 2020): Jeremiah 9
J. R. R. Tolkien, in “The Return of
the King,” writes, “I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”
I know Tolkien’s words
are true with my heart, but my head often rebels at the thought. We frequently
want to do whatever we can to protect ourselves from the things that will cause
us tears. But often someone, usually a woman, will tell me that something that
I have said or written has made them cry. My first reaction is to apologize, but
they then remind me that sometimes tears are a good thing. Sometimes, the truth
is that we need to cry. It is one action that allows us to express our grief,
and to live healthy lives; our pain needs to find a way that it can be shown. Trying
to avoid grief is not a good, long-term solution. Grief revealed in us simply
means that someone, or something, has made a positive difference in our lives.
And those are often good and beneficial tears.
Jeremiah is
remembered as the weeping prophet. And as he moves through the things that God
is revealing will happen, the prophet turns poetic, trying to express his grief.
He wishes that his head was a spring of water and his eyes a fountain. Then it might
be possible for him to express the depth of his grief adequately. But the
prophet neither has the time nor the tears to express the feelings of his heart
correctly. He has a message that he feels he must carry to the nation. He has work
that needs to be done.
But we also
need to recognize that there is something beautiful about Jeremiah’s tears. The
tears originate from a deep love of the people of Judah. And they are seen by God,
who keeps an active record of his tears (Psalm 56:8). These tears of Jeremiah
are not evil, even though a great evil was on its way. The tears were good, and
a necessary response to all that was about to happen.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 10
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