‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.’ Luke 13:34
It’s easy to do anger. It is an instant energy hit. It feels good. Sadness feels weak and useless. There are plenty of times when we can’t fix things. We don’t want to go there, lest we get stuck. Yet learning to do sadness is vital. Anger just feeds our ego, while tears can take us much deeper into life. For the prophets, and for Jesus, anger led to sadness, then it took them to a deeper compassion, and the hope of forgiveness. Look at Jesus – he refuses to back down, or to pick up arms. He resolutely goes to Jerusalem, he resolutely goes to the cross, he forgives his enemies, and he willingly takes into himself the pain, distress and sin of all of us. He offers himself up to take all that off us, so that we can have hope and a way through. The final word is always Easter, and the promise of new life.
Don’t shut out sadness. It will lead you to rely on Jesus. ‘Here I am, Lord, in all my incompleteness’. It will lead you to a deeper compassion and understanding of others when things go wrong. Sadness helps us to discover that we are loved and forgiven. It helps us reach out to others to offer compassion and acceptance.
Don’t be afraid to do sadness, and to let Jesus and others do that with you.
