The God Who Wept

"No other God has made Himself vulnerable to His creation—deliberately, consciously.  All other gods demand sacrifice but not this God:  “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”" -Fiona Givens, The Weeping God.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" (Marianne Williamson)

"Jesus wept"  (John 11: 35)

Why is it so difficult for us to comprehend a God who weeps?

Why does God weep?

Why is weeping associated with weakness?

These questions have been running through my mind since reading the essay The Weeping God by Fiona Givens. To answer them, I think it's actually best to start with the last. Why is weeping associated with weakness? Why should the display of such strong emotion be considered lacking in strength?

I believe that we are afraid of the power of our own emotions. We are afraid of our hearts that can feel so deeply, and so we hide them away behind many walls and barriers. I, personally, try my best not to show any of my really strong emotions, especially tears. Everyone at some point has done this- held back so that no one would see us cry. Revealing that deep well of emotion, that vulnerable part of yourself, is scary. We are afraid of the power of our hearts, and we are afraid that other people will break them.

Over so many years, we have built up our society so that the hiding of emotion is normal, and so to show it must be a flaw, a breakdown of the walls we build for the sake of fitting in. Haven't we all seen someone crying and thought "that's pathetic" or that they were weak? Haven't we all reprimanded those who were hurting, telling them to "tough it up?" Crying is not seen as anything but weakness. It is seen as displaying a lack of self control.

Thus, a God who weeps is seen as sacrilegious. God is perfect; He has no weaknesses. How then could He weep? How could He lose control in such a way? Though God weeps for different reasons than we, His imperfect children, do, this difference goes unnoticed by society. If tears are weakness, they do not belong to God, but only to man, in our imperfect, fallen state.

But what if weeping is not weakness, but rather just an expression of emotion? What if society's perception is backwards? What if tears are rather the outpouring of emotions that have caused a heart to finally overflow?

Then a God who weeps becomes an emotional being, one who cares so deeply for His children that He cries for our pains and misfortunes. He is constantly watching over us, no matter what we are going through. He helps us where He can but He also allows us to grow, even if it pains Him to watch.

Isn't this a beautiful concept? An empathetic God who is always with us, who feels for our pains, who sheds tears for our sorrows. A Father who wishes only to hold us in His arms once more. A divine Being who loves His children enough to cry for us.

It changes us as well. Weeping becomes something with a place, something okay.  Crying becomes less shameful for us. It is no longer weakness. If God cries, then why can't we? To weep with and for others is something we learn from Him. To cry in the depths of our own trials is to cry unto Him, to ask for His aid. Tears are more than human weakness. Especially in sympathy for the pains of those we love. Especially in our own brokenheartedness. It deepens our sense of a caring Father in Heaven who loves us and will cry with us. God our Father is willing and able to "mourn with those that mourn...and comfort those who stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9) just as He has asked us to do for others.

I believe that the true strength of the heart lies in the depth of emotion we can feel without apology- not the depth of emotion we can hide from the world while wearing a mask of a smile. I believe tears arising from our deepest cares are signs of strength, of a full heart, of a large heart that holds a whole world. Those tears are the most genuine of all. I believe these are the tears of God, and they come from a heart as large as the universe, that spans the stars and circles the sun, that sees galaxies collapse and still cries when we fall.

The God who wept is the strongest and most divine of all.