CRY

Plethora Ministries

WORD WEEK 06-18-06

CRY

GENESIS 21:16 KJV

And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

GENESIS 23:2 KJV

And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

GENESIS 50:1 KJV

And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

GENESIS 50:17 KJV

So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

PSALM 103:1 KJV

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.

MATTHEW 2:18 KJV

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

MATTHEW 3:3 KJV

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

JOHN 11:35 KJV

Jesus wept.

CRY

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Disruptions, disappointments, betrayals, exclusions, deferred advancements, inappropriate dislodge of power, sickness, class bias, racial bias, gender bias, depression, destruction, disintegration of the dignity and the worth of human lives, prisons who capitalize on the births of African American males not yet born by projecting their life-paths by the age of three, wars that claim the lives of many who serve forever transforming the lives of their family members, famine, disease, brokenness, hopelessness, and poverty are some of the many reasons that might cause one to cry!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Pandemic unemployment, the United States work force crisis, disintegration in social and work ethics, drug-addicted babies who die as a consequence of having in utero exposure to drugs, children in Africa and India who die by the dozens as a consequences of malnutrition, revenue spent on the development of penal systems, and revenue retracted from budgets for recreation; music; humanities; curriculums all of which are presently defunct in the public school system as they are not deemed a significant enough investment are even more reasons that might cause one to cry!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Political mudslinging, the brutal murder of five youths over this past weekend in New Orleans who were shot to death, the threat of North Korea to "wipeout" United States forces in the event of war during a national meeting to mark Kim Jong-ll's forty-years work at the ruling party, the 40 Philippine families who had to flee their homes due to the onslaught of a volcano, the news that the United States officials received intelligence that al Qaeda operatives had been 45 days from releasing a deadly gas into New York City subways when the plan was called off by Osama bin Laden's second-in-command in 2003, and the finding/excavation of the Largato which sank 61 years ago with 86 sailors aboard are still even more reasons to cry!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Suffering is present throughout the world and occurring at a pandemic level daily! Suffering which is so great that the BELOVED OF GOD have become immune to and/or anesthetized by its profundity! Moreover, the passion of living abundantly and joyously appears to have been abducted by the sobering reality that hearts of too many of GOD'S people are becoming apathetic! Consequently, the physical and spiritual tear ducts of far too many Christians have begun to dry out because the BELOVED OF GOD have forgotten the power of tears, the power of crying, the power of weeping!!! Consequently, far too many of the LORD'S people have given up, given out, and have given in because they believe that their tears do not touch the heart of a loving and gracious GOD! Crying it seems to many of GOD'S people, appears to require too much work and does not appear to avert one's present suffering! Consequently, the big lake of tears that was kept fresh by the tears humanity through the ages, appears to be drying out and all that appears to remain is salty residue! Help us GOD!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

The sickness of those whom we love, the death of those with whom be bear witness, the breaking of the family circle, emotional disconnectedness, malignant narcissism, basic courtesy buried by the desert sands of time, road rage, and the word "thank you" replaced by a spirit of entitlement and a lack of basic gratitude are still even more reasons why we should cry; i.e., why we should weep!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

As we reflect upon the Biblical Scripture above, one of the common themes to which we bear witness in all eight verses is that of the blessing of tears; i.e., the blessing of crying: 1] The Egyptian Woman Servant, Hagar, cries beneath a tree when she feared the death of her son and Abraham's son Ishamel subsequent to being banished by Sarah. 2] Abraham mourns the death of Sarah. 3] Joseph, in reverence to his father, weeps and kisses his father's face. 4] Joseph's brothers who sought his demise, now wept in their having received his forgiveness. 5] David, reminds us in the book of Psalms, that he cried out of the depths of his soul unto the LORD! 6] King Herod upon hearing about the witness of the Three Wise Men slays all of the children in Bethlehem and the coast thereof and weeping was heard in Rama as Rachel was weeping for her children and could not be comforted! 7] Scripture foretold the arrival of he who ate wild honey and locust and he who cometh from the wilderness prophesying to the world the entrance of the LOGOS made FLESH! 8] Lastly, one of the shortest sentences and yet one of the most profound scriptures in the Biblical narrative, "JESUS WEPT!"

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

The act of crying is a gift given by the gracious presence of The Holy Spirit that enables us as human beings to absorb the shocks of deepening spirituality! Crying tempers us on numerous levels as our tears access a place in our spirits and in communion with the LORD that words evade! The act of crying is cathartic for the wounded soul and the parched spirit. We are witness bearers via the Prophets in the Old Testament who remind us that our strength, fortitude, vision, hope, song, and petitions are often conveyed to the LORD not only by words, but via our moans and groans and tears which the HOLY SPIRIT maketh intercession! The Crying of the BELOVED OF GOD provokes the gentle hand of GOD to carry the Beloved Wounded over mountains, through valleys, and across oceans.

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Each and everyday that we encounter current events nationally and internationally, we become instantly unified with others when we are witness bearers of their rivers of tears. Crying is a universal language that unfolds in the lives of the rich and poor; the white, black, yellow, and red; the famous and the unknown; the controllers of power and those oppressed by such power; the strong and the weak; the embraced and those for whom an embrace is feared; the restored and the broken; the accepted and heralded; the rejected and the outcast.

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

The tears of the righteous man/woman moves the gracious hand of GOD to action! Crying may be a companion of Prayer, Meditation, Reflection, Spiritual Reading, Praise, Contemplation, and Mission, all of which will bring about a glorious transformation in the life of the man/woman of GOD! Consequently, tears are not an obstruction but function like that of a river that transports the wounded from one destination or point of contact to another destination or point of contact. What a profound change could be made in the world if all of humanity cried a large lake of tears!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

In seasons of distress, CRY! In seasons of brokenness, CRY, In seasons of numbness, CRY! In seasons of confusion, CRY! In seasons of grief, CRY! In seasons of despair, CRY! In seasons of sickness, CRY, In seasons of disappointments, CRY! In seasons of war, CRY! In seasons of peace, CRY! In seasons of celebration, CRY! In seasons of stagnation, CRY! In seasons of brokenness, CRY! In seasons of betrayals, CRY! In season of loneliness, CRY! In seasons of transition, CRY! In seasons of uncertainty, CRY! In seasons of woundedness, CRY! In seasons of abandonment, CRY! CRY! CRY! CRY!

Crying is not only evidenced by our tears, but it is often articulated in our passion and our pain and their capacity to he used in the healing of another's brokenness! Tears, like pain, have no gender. Perhaps, they are what makes us human! As the events unfold in all of the verses above, we are reminded that we should take great comfort in the grace and loving presence in power of YAHWEH!

Subsequently, as each event/narrative unfolds, we become witness bearers to the transformative power of tears as we are reminded the life happens and that twenty-four hours can radically change the remainder and course of one's life as well as human history! As we reflect upon each of the aforementioned verses, we become witness bearers to the pathos, prayers, disappointments, fears, concerns, and betrayals, that are the catalyst for tears! The tears of the righteous have accompanied days that have acquiesced into nights, nights that have acquiesced into days.

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

When we encounter Jesus in our suffering and when everything familiar to us appears to be communicated via our tears, Jesus touches us in a way that causes our suffering and brokenness to become our comfort and strength. Throughout the sacred text; i.e., from the book Genesis to the book of Revelation, we as the Beloved Community of GOD are petitioned to embrace the spiritual necessity that the Divine Journey will summons the necessity of the tears and the act of crying. When we abandon the parameters of human reason alone and "tap" the consciousness of GOD, our lives become transformed in our realization that our lives are really not our own, but gifts birthed by the unfathomable love of GOD! The Holy Spirit causes something to happen to us, with us, and in us as we know that victory and triumph can only come from divine intervention which on many occasions has been activated by crying; weeping; tears as witnessed above!

When was the last time that you remember having cried?

Alvin Ailey as a rising choreographer many years ago choreographed a dance piece entitled "CRY." At that time Mr. Aliey was unable to afford a gift for his mother and in his desire to honor her and all mothers of the world, he choreographed "CRY!" Mr. Ailey had undoubted encountered the pathos of our humanity and rendered movement, passion, and expression to the transformative power of tears!

As each of us progresses on our journey to the Celestial City of GOD, may the loving and gracious hand of GOD comfort you in response to your tears, may the words that only your tears can render expression grant you peace and release, may you forever be reminded that a tear does not fall from your eyes that does not escape so without the attention of GOD!

ISAIAH 55: 11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

K. Mason(c) 2005

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