"I'm sorry I am so emotional." "I don't mean to be crying right now." "I don't know what is wrong with me." I hear these sentences so often during a visit. And the truth is - if our team is at your house or your bedside, you probably have some really good reasons to cry.
But it's messy, and embarrassing, and revealing, and sad, and private, and..... I spend a lot of time giving people permission to cry. Of course, it's so easy to say. I have to remind myself that too.
Mr. Rogers tells this story.
I remember after my grandfather's death, seeing Dad in the hall with tears streaming down his face. I don't think I had ever seen him cry before. I'm glad I did see him. It helped me know that it was okay for men to cry. Many years later, when my father himself died, I cried: and way down deep I knew he would have said it was all right.
Sniff, sniff. Hand me the kleenex. We can cry together.
Jesus wept.
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