Why do we cry when we face the reality of eternity?
Whether the passing of a loved one or an entry into new life in Christ, the heart responds with such surges of emotion that they simply cannot be contained.
My grandfather has passed into eternity, and I am not sad, but happy. I will certainly miss him, but probably not too much. I am simply not that type of person, and yet, though I rejoice at his homecoming, when I think about it I am moved to great sobs. Why?
The Bible tells us in Romans 8:26 of times when the person of the Holy Spirit intercedes in pray for us with “with groanings too deep for words”, and I wonder if perhaps the reason for my tears is found here…
Maybe the answer is that words are simply not sturdy enough to carry the weight of eternity, and those sob are simply the breaking of the platform of this world, a kind of dropping down into the vast current of spiritual reality. The closer our hearts and minds get to the infinite, the harder it is for our finite words and bodies to contain them. It’s ok. Let us let go and allow our spirits to respond in freedom, for that is a far deeper reality than the physical world we so tightly try to grasp.
“Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” -Psalm 42:7
(3/14/2011)
