Excerpt: The article explores the reasons behind crying, using the author’s personal experiences and the Biblical example of Jesus crying. It suggests that crying often stems from deep emotional connections and shared experiences.

Author: I.M. Koen

When was the last time you cried? Think about that for a second.

Was it recently? I don’t mean a tear rolled down your cheek because something made you sad. I am referring to an ugly snot-bubble sobbing. Weeping so intense it brings to the surface secret feelings hidden deep inside — an emotional purging.

Do you wish you would cry more? Are you afraid the dam will break if you do? Do you believe the lie that crying is a sign of weakness?

Has someone crying ever made you also cry? There is a reason for that.

Recently I had to do a deep dig inside myself to try and answer that question. Because my brother-in-law died last week. It was sudden and unexpected. My sister is still in shock. She has not started her grieving process yet. I liked him a lot. But I didn’t shed a single tear.

I did sob recently. Two stories are guaranteed to make me weep: the movie “Everything is Illuminated,” and the Amazon series “Tales from the Loop.” My wife sat stoically beside me wondering what was going on with me as we watched them. “Are you crying at this?” She didn’t get it. I have seen both three times. And each time they had the same effect on me. It wasn’t pretty.

I’ll reveal why they moved me in a second. But first, let’s think about Jesus.

The Bible mentions two times when Jesus cried.

Once while He was looking over Jerusalem. He was weeping over the fact that He came to save them. But they rejected Him. It’s like a dysfunctional marriage. One partner gives and gives and gives, getting nothing in return. Jerusalem is called His bride. And they were about to give Him the ultimate betrayal.

The people He poured himself into would soon be chanting, “Crucify Him!” Can you relate? Have you ever dedicated yourself to a marriage, a company, or a project, only to be kicked to the curb after giving everything? Rejection causes pain. And pain triggers oceans of tears.

The second time Jesus cried became the shortest scripture in the New Testament. “Jesus wept” -John 11:35. There are instances of crying in the New Testament. But the word translated as “wept” is only used once. Yep. You guessed it.

Here’s the backstory. Jesus’s friend Lazarus died. And Jesus is heading to Bethany to raise him from the dead. There is no doubt that Lazarus will live again. But when Jesus arrives, He connects so deeply with the mourners on-site that He cries also.

The story has a happy conclusion. Lazarus comes back from the dead, and has dinner more times with Jesus. So why the tears from Jesus?

The answer is the same reason I snot-bubble cry in my recliner at the stories written by both Jonathan Saffron Foer (Everything is Illuminated) and Simon Stålenhag (Tales from the Loop). Both of those stories have characters that I connect with. They are outcasts carrying pain from their past. They are in this world, but not of it. And finally, they come to a place where they can make peace with their past. That doesn’t describe my wife at all. However, that perfectly sums up who I am.

Connection! Connection! Connection!

Why do people want to act like certain characters in a book?

They connect with them. Even if they know the character is not real, there is still something about it that personally speaks to them. They can relate. Even if nobody else around them can.

Why do people join groups or movements?

They connect with like-minded individuals. People realize they are not alone. Others think, feel, and act the same way they do. It’s freeing to find out you are not a solitary freak. That you belong somewhere, with someone.

Let every word you write and speak break a chain, heal a bruise, or breathe life back into a withered, thirsty neighbor.

Hopefully you will break through with the greatest gift you can offer another person traveling this earthly road in darkness. This is what brought out emotions in Jesus, and it will do the same for you. It is an emotion that arises when the Spirit of eternal life (the Holy Spirit) enters another’s life through your words, love, and testimony.

It’s why we do what we do. As Biblical Christians, God calls us to be His ambassadors of the Good News. If you know it, share it while there is still time. If you don’t know it, seek it as the most important decision you will ever make.