The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners.
——Isaiah 61:1
Is that you? The Brokenhearted? A Captive? A Prisoner? Well……Good News…..…..that is exactly WHO Jesus, The Messiah, has come for!! He has come to heal your broken heart!! Now that you have finally admitted that it is broken……..this is tough for men! You don’t cry and you don’t admit weakness and you sure as hell don’t admit that you have been wounded and broken and beat down!!! But Real Men Do…………….And we saw last week from the response……….that Real Women do too……….
Eldredge makes it quite clear:
That is why we must grieve the wound. It was not your fault and it did matter. Oh what a milestone day that was for me when I simply allowed myself to say that the loss of my father mattered. The tears that flowed were the first I’d ever granted my wound, and they were deeply healing. All those years of sucking it up melted away in my grief. It is so important for us to grieve our wound; it is the only honest thing to do. For in grieving we admit the truth— that we were hurt by someone we loved, that we lost something very dear, and it hurt us very much. Tears are healing. They help to open and cleanse the wound. As Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “The tears . . . streamed down, and I let them flow as freely as they would, making of them a pillow for my heart. On them it rested.” Grief is a form of validation; it says the wound mattered. We let God love us; we let him get real close to us. I know, it seems painfully obvious, but I’m telling you few men are ever so vulnerable as to simply let themselves be loved by God.
Eldredge, John (2011-04-17). Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul (p. 130). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
So…….it is time for us to Forgive our Fathers and our Mothers………… (Eph 4:31) My Father was a good man, But not a Saved Man, Not a Man of God…….and not necessarily a Giving Man, but I loved him because he spent time with me and taught me and encouraged me and was there……He died over 29 years ago and I still miss him. My Mother is certainly the source of most of my wound for many reasons of which will not edify me or you by reciting them……But I have learned to forgive her and understand her situation and grieve her inevitable Death, soon and very soon. What a shame, what a waste of a life……..consumed with Fear and Sadness, full of addictions…..But I have no control of her life…….only my actions, my choices, my decisions, my stupidity and I have to remind myself of that daily…..Since I like to control people and things just like everyone…
I have quoted this song before but it always hits home:
The Heart of the Matter:
The more I know, the less I understand,
all the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again.
I’ve been tryin’ to get down
to the heart of the matter
but my will gets weak
and my thoughts seem to scatter
but I think it’s about forgiveness,
forgiveness
even if, even if you don’t love me anymore.
These times are so uncertain
There’s a yearning undefined
…..people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age?
The trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
They’re the very things we kill, I guess
Pride and competition
cannot fill these empty arms
And the work I put between us doesn’t keep me warm
There are people in your life
who’ve come and gone,
They let you down,
you know they’ve hurt your pride.
You better put it behind you;
’cause life goes on.
You keep carryin’ that anger,
It’ll eat you up inside baby,
(1989). Written by Don Henley, Mike Campbell, and J. D. Souther