This week, I have been thinking about
a different Scripture than the one read today.
This week, I found myself thinking about
the Scripture that says: Jesus wept.
This is Jesus’ response to the death
of a good friend named Lazarus.
Jesus hears that Lazarus is ill, goes to see him
and, upon arrival,
learns that Lazarus has died.
Later in this story Jesus raises Lazarus to life
but when Jesus first arrives
and sees the people mourning,
it says Jesus is “moved by the deepest emotions”
and Jesus weeps.
The crowd looks on, noting,
“See how much he loved him.”
In the moment that Jesus is moved,
Jesus doesn’t become super chatty
or start to lecture.
Instead
Jesus
pauses
with tears
running down his face.
I am struck by the simplicity of Jesus’ response.
Perhaps in times like these,
less is required rather than more.
Perhaps in times like these,
we are called to stop
like Jesus.
And so today,
I prepared for you,
not a preponderance of words
but a pause.
May we each take a moment now, silently,
to mourn as we must
the loss of life that occurred this week.
—
Loving God, give us the courage to mourn as we must and to trust your grace to lead us to a place where we affirm the value of each human being and live with keener sensitivity and deeper tenderness because of the lives of those who have gone before us and because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the great Healer and Liberator of us all. Amen.
Joy of the Journey 