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“A gentle answer turns away wrath.” Proverbs 15:1a
Written at 5:06pm, Sunday, February 26, several hours before the Oscars. You can fill in the blanks based upon your viewing of the Oscars or reading the headlines the next day. Tonight during his/her acceptance speech for winning best _____(enter category here)______ at the Oscars, ___(enter name here)____ offended ____(enter name of offended person or group here)____. This is just another instance in a string of offenses caused by the acceptance speeches of “winners” during award ceremonies recently. |
From a young age, I remember thinking to myself that real men don’t cry and that I shouldn’t be a cry baby. I can’t say that anyone ever explicitly taught me that or even told me that — it was just understood. Crying was a sign of weakness, of vulnerability, of being a loser, and so you didn’t cry.
But there is a time for crying, there is a time for tears, or to use the words of the psalmist, a time to lament. A lament is a passionate crying out of grief, of pain, of sorrow. And for the reader and obeyer of scripture it can have a special connotation of crying out to God, a plea that He would turn and hear the cry and act based upon His love and His justice. Read the entire post here: Learning to Lament |