Weeping

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” John 11:28-37

Weeping

Putting up a brave front
in the light of day
in front of neighbors and onlookers
we collapse on our beds and cry.

The racking sobs the lack of breath
loss so deep it roils up
darkness is its invitation
my aching heart its home.

The loss of a gentle touch
no longer will we hear that voice
no more for dancing or debate
but closed in the stone cold ground.

A lake of tears not enough
to empty my drowning soul alone
the world is less an invitation
than a horror show.

Sorrow so deep we are spent
we sleep in the desperate hours of night
freed for a moment from our sorrow
God kisses us with hope.

It is a long road from deep sorrow
to a high hill filled with light
we walk these deep foreboding woods
hand and hand with God.




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