when I’m misunderstood than when I’m physically wounded. I cry
for starving children with their shriveled limbs and pleading eyes
looking out of the television screen and for those who are dying
today in countries where the gospel isn’t preached. (And then some-
times, before my tears are even dry, I turn off the television set and
forget to write the check.)
I have cried at the deathbed of my sister and at the marriages of
my sons—for the beauty and the brevity of life.
And I cry when I feel alone. I hug my solitude to myself like a
badge of uniqueness. “No one has ever felt so lonely,” I say word-
lessly.
I have felt alone in huge crowds of people at concerts or sporting
events, looking around at them and wondering, Am I the only one who
feels this way?I have felt alone at times in foreign countries where the
customs and the culture aren’t mine. And I’ve even felt alone in my
own hometown in my own home church with my own best friends.
I have felt alone when I have needed God and was too broken-
hearted to put words to my prayer.
Whatever the cause, he has always dried my tears... always
drawn me close. And his promise to me is that in the end he will dry
every tear from every eye (see Rev. 21:4). That’s why I know without
a doubt that I can trust him. I can let my tears flow in his presence
and be certain he will take care of them.
O Lord, thank you for giving me permission to feel my feelings.
Thank you for welcoming my emotions. Thank you for the shoulder
of a father on which I can cry. And though I sometimes feel alone,
thank you for the awesome reality of your ever-present love. In
Jesus’ name, amen.26 CLAIRECLONINGER