Her life has been hard. Nothing has ever been given to her. Very few people have ever kept their promises to her. The people she was supposed to be able to trust have often been a disappointment. Yet somehow she has kept her back straight and her head up towards the sky. The challenges of her life have left their imprint on her heart, mind and soul and she has not always dealt with her challenges in healthy ways. Truth be told, while she has always been super strong, she has also made some dumb decisions.
She needed some help during the stress of life and she did not believe it was okay to ask for it. She needed some help coping and she did not know where to turn. She needed some help juggling her responsibilities but it seemed the world was on her shoulders and she didn’t think the world could go on without her. She needed rest but she thought if she took it everything would fall apart.
Well, who is this woman? This woman is nearly every woman walking on the planet. This woman is you. She is your mother. She is your friend’s mother. She is the mother of that child who is in the hospital. She is the mother of the child who is in school but doesn’t know if they can pay tuition next semester. She is the mother of the child who is incarcerated. She is the mother of that child who died before she did. She is the mother of those babies who are just starting their journey in the world – in the midst of a depressed economy, a flu pandemic, and cuts in jobs and essential social services. She is the mother of earth in the midst of its groaning.
Well, on this Mother’s Day there is a word from the Lord: Go Ahead and Cry. Stop trying to be so strong that you don’t need a break. Go ahead and cry. Stop trying to be so strong that you don’t acknowledge your hurts and disappointments. Go ahead and cry. Stop trying to do everything without acknowledging that it feels like the world is on your shoulders. Go ahead and cry.
Jesus has a thing about tears. When a woman cries, Jesus shows up. Even from the cross when he saw his mother’s tears he responded by meeting her need for a son. When a woman cries, God shows up. When Hagar wandered in the wilderness and cried out, there was God letting her know she was seen, she was not alone and that God – her protector and provider – was present in the middle of her struggle. Go ahead and cry because when you do, there is healing in your tears.
— Rev. Francine A. Brookins, Esq. is Pastor of Wright Chapel AME Church in San Francisco, CA – francinebrookins.com
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