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was asked once, sitting around a table at a church function, what was the secret to my healing from difficulties on the field and being able to keep going. I responded, “I cried a lot.” There was an awkward silence. No one asked me to explain, and no one said anything. I think they had hoped to hear something profound. Maybe they hoped I would say something about God. Maybe they wanted to hear some useful idea. But what if tears say a lot about God? What if they are also very useful?
God made us rational and emotional
Sadness is the inner feeling we experience when we come up against a loss, a disappointment, or the end of something where there is nothing left to do but cry.
Somewhere around the time people put their trust in reason, they lost faith in an important aspect of how God made us: as both rational and emotional beings. Our amazing brains are created with both cognitive and emotional capacities with important roles to play. Sadness is a universal emotional experience, yet our current culture tells us sadness is something to 6 The Messenger • July/August 2022
avoid. We perceive it as the opposite of happiness, fearing that feeling sad puts us at risk of a mood disorder. Sadness is not the same as despair or depression. It is not grumpiness or agitation—though these might be indicators of sadness in need of release. Sadness does not always have to show on the outside, nor does it have to be accompanied with tears. Sadness is the inner feeling we experience when we come up against a loss, a disappointment, or the end of something where there is nothing left to do but cry. Sometimes when we feel sad it’s hard to imagine ever feeling happy
