a beautiful mess

“There is no great mountain but beside some deep valley.” – C. E. Cowman

“Passing through the Valley of Weeping [Beceh] they make it a spring…” 84th Psalm, Verse 6

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we can not deny it, the season of lent is all around us. it is the profound and mysterious place only a breath away from easter; the sorrow which leads to celebration – both of which are simultaneously, joy.

we need not fear lent. we ought to welcome those unnamed, fearful, dark valleys through which we journey from time to time. they should be to us a place of opportunity: for what is a valley, except the foot of a mountain? what is an empty cup, except an opportune vessel to be filled?

often times, we, by the common direction of our local churches, pursue only the peak of a single mountain: ah, but we forget, life more often reflects a whole range of mountains, comprised of peaks and valleys alike.

lent is a season for us to name those areas in our life which need light. they may be darkened by any number of things: futile thinking, deception, fear and worry, envy, greed, lust, impatience, and on and on. this is the season from which all other seasons flow. in fact, it is the age old law of the harvest: that for a seed to give birth to life, first it must die.

even as believers, for those ALREADY raised to new life: it is a season to descend into the much needed valley of weeping. alan jones recognized this as “the gift of tears.”

what i am finding to be true this season, is that weeping leads to more weeping. it is contagious. that is to say, i typically begin to contemplate those shadowy places in my life, build up the courage to name them out loud, and then the weeping comes, accompanied by brokenness and then freedom and then peace. but then. there is this incredible, inexplicable turning. a turning from me to some other. be it my family, my friends, my neighborhood, my local church, etc. and the weeping comes for others too. it is all-consuming. and the weeping continues for those who have hurt me and for those who i have hurt,

and the tears become a pool in my heart,

and the pools become a well in my soul,

and the wells become springs in my life.

and this is the gift of tears: they carry GOD through our veins: they cleanse us: they renew us: they fill us even as we are emptying ourselves of them.

[selah]

may this season of lent cause us all to remember the long-proclaimed and gentle command of YHWH: al-tirah/μη φοβου/fear not. may we give ourselves over to courage and boldness and simply cry out to the GOD who hears the cry of the afflicted. may we be mindful to praise him for placing the glorious mountain always beside some deep valley. may we thank him for both. so that we will find our rest in him no matter our place on the journey, for this is joy: immovable, unshakable, undeniable, always independent of our circumstances/mountains/valleys.

and may we, in light of this dark season, weep until our hearts and souls and lives are flowing with compassion, forgiveness, and mercy.

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHWH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.