Moved to tears
I have a confession; and I hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.
I don’t like musicals. Like, musical theater.
I like plays; I like music…I don’t like musicals. This hasn’t always been true, but for whatever reason, it has become true. My wife and I joke that I will watch one musical with her per year.
This past week, I generously endured my annual musical.
We had an opportunity to see The Lion King in New York City and it was quite an experience. The show is now 30 years old, but it is still going strong.
I’m not sure what it is that bugs me about musicals. Maybe it’s that they are so unrealistic. I mean, where else do you find random pieces of music dropped in the middle of normal conversations or orations (the irony is not lost on me that our worship services are EXACTLY the same thing here…).
So, here I was sitting in a theater in NYC with my family and enjoying the opening song of this musical. I see the beautiful costumes, the incredible puppets and props, the talent of the singers, the beauty of the set…and I start crying.
CRYING. Me. I hate musicals and yet, here I was, crying at a musical. I wasn’t crying because I was being held against my will and forced to endure, I was crying because it was beautiful.
The colors, the songs, the whole thing. I’m crying in my seat because I was overcome with wonder, curiosity, and joy.
When have you found yourself crying for no reason?
I remember the first in-person worship service during the COVID-19 pandemic. 50 of us in a room that held 400; all masked up, gloves ready for communion, it was awful…and beautiful. We were together again…and I wept.
I remember the phone call from St. Paul informing me I was going to be the next senior pastor. Life was about to change…and I wept.
I remember watching my kids get on stage to dance. Each and every time; at competitions and recitals; at town celebrations. I wept.
When have you been moved to tears?
Former basketball coach, the late, great Jim Valvano said that if you spend some time each day laughing, in thought, and having your emotions moved to tears, then you’ve had a pretty good day.
I wonder about some of those moments in the Bible of huge change or fulfillment, if anyone was moved to tears.
After passing through the Red Sea, if the Israelites looked back with tears, knowing they were free. I wonder if they peered over the Jordan river to the promised land and wept because promises come true. I wonder if Simeon and Anna, upon seeing the Christ child wept because their life’s purpose was now fulfilled.
One of the greatest gifts that God has given us is the ability to have our emotions moved to tears. Sometimes out of great joy, sometimes out of injustice, but always because something strikes a chord in us that resonates, but we don’t always know why.
School is starting soon, fall patterns are about ready to kick into high gear, everyone is about to get really busy. Don’t forget to look around and feel. The fingerprints of God are all over this creation and we have the opportunity to live in and among little bits of the divine all around us. Don’t miss them. All parts of life are sorta sacred and may cause us to tear up, even if we have no idea why.
As seasons change, as life marches on, our God has put into our lives little miracles at every turn, great beauty all around us, and people to remind us that good (and God!) exists. You may even be brought to tears.
