Cry Baby

Joesph in the Bible is known for quite a few things. He had a coat of many colors, he was sold into slavery by his brothers, he interpreted dreams, he went from jail to second in command over all of Egypt for aiding the Pharaoh (King.) What he isn't known for is being someone that shed a lot of tears. I recently read through Genesis about Joseph's life and found that he did cry often. I think its odd that someone who was one of the Bible finest men who trusted God throughout the terribleness of his life, cried about everything.

Today there is a social norm that men shouldn't cry. Men need to be rough, tough and always fierce because they need to protect their wife, children, they need to not fall apart and show no weakness. If a man cries, then he is weak. That is one struggle that men go through today. Joesph cried all the time and he cried the most when it came to his family, those who were closest to him.

Its interesting that the Bible chose to say that Joseph cried. I believe that it was trying to make a point. Here was a man, who was the greatest man, aside from the Pharaoh, in all the land that wasn't even his native country, and he broke down and cried. Often times it says that he cried right in front of his family with great sorrow. But looking at Joseph in his life, we would never say that this man was weak. In fact, he has the kind of trust that many crave to have in God.

Crying is not a weakness, but a simple allowance of ourselves to let go of whatever pressure is on is. Jesus himself cried at the death of a friend. Men should look at the example of Joseph and see that crying is not weakness, but its truly a way to gain strength; to let out all that is on you and let God take control over what happens next.

People Change

It seems to me like just when you start to become comfortable with people and begin to understand them, they change. Its like a total makeover, sometimes a complete 180. The person who once knew, held dear and cared for is no longer there, but has been replaced with this image that looks just like them, but couldn't be further from who they are. I'm beginning to believe that this is the nature of humans. Once we begin to find something good, that we get scared and run away because we don't know when its going to become "real" and real to us is something that hurts us. We sit and think that soon, this is going to hurt me back, they are going to do it intentionally and its all going to fall apart. And to avoid that, we change who we are in order to protect ourselves, and ironically do to the other person(s) what we didn't want happening to us. Maybe its because we've been hurt before, and every time we finally open up again, someone else is there to give us a reason to cave ourselves in. We no longer want to take a chance to be hurt, so we change who we are and leave the others behind. And when the next person comes along, we keep them at arms length away, which is just the perfect length to watch what they do and give us enough time to avoid getting too close and becoming hurt from their actions. Its partly fear of the unknown, and fear of what has been known to happen. Both present in many people's lives.

I'm reminded of two things. 1. My bicycle, 2. Batman. First, my bicycle. I have never been a good bike rider. I'm not sure why, but I've hardly ever been able to stay in a straight line, or even stay on the bike! That still remains true today, unfortunately. You'll hardly ever see me on a bike. But to be honest, I won't pass up an opportunity to go for a ride. Yes, I know that for me it is potentially dangerous, that I may come home injured, but I enjoy it. In my mind its worth it. No matter how much pain riding my bike has brought me before, I will not let it stop me from getting on it again. This brings me to Batman. Not too long ago, there was a movie title Batman Begins. There is an important scene where young Bruce Wayne (Batman) falls into a pit and gets scraped up and scared. His father rescues him and takes him into the house, but asks him a question first, "Why do we fall Bruce?" The answer, if my memory serves me right, is so "We can learn to pick ourselves up." Everyday we will fall in some sort of way. Whether its physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, or socially it happens. But we need to get back up again, wipe off ourselves, take time to mend what was broken, but most importantly get back on the bike.

We shouldn't allow past pain, faults of others, brokenness keep us from going forward, from a great future. But unfortunately we do. We can be apprehensive, but never fear what is out there just because its unknown what will happen. The unknown is there to be explored. I still get on my bike from time to time. Careful as always, but never fearful of what may happen. I'm not going to change myself to no longer enjoying bike rides, but embrace them when I can with caution. Nothing will change me, unless its me choosing to change for the better.