Status Updates From A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching O...

133:Amidst crushing sorrow and confusion, Jesus endured. He suffered with the disturbing clarity that only the hope of joy can give… He exhausted Himself against the God Whose Presence was nowhere to be seen... Earlier, in the Garden, Jesus had crossed the line from I to Thou with the words, "Not my will but Thine be done." On the cross He demonstrated it. Losing everything, He won for us the assurance of Presence.

The wilderness wasteland that is crossed by means of lament leaves the lamenter exhausted, only capable of falling into the intimate embrace of the one "You." We would have never known Him thus unless first, we had honestly wept; and second, turned from the self of "me" to the otherness of "You." Those who have been to this place know that it is the most remarkable place of rest, though it is an exhausted rest. Pg 80

“But Job desperately clings to such a God, one who encourages us to offer everything to Him, every joy and every sorrow.
All our broken hearts. All our contrite spirits. Because He is worth it.” Page 51

“In Jesus we experience a God who is moved by our tears, who is even moved to tears. Until we learn to let our tears of lament flow freely in His presence we will never discover this deep dimension of Him. Only the Christ who became so familiar with our suffering can break apart that dispassionate dividing wall between ourselves, others, and God Only the power of His tender tears can tear it down.” (Page 30)