Cry, Cry, Cry and Be Happy

The other day I received an e-mail from a very special person in my life.

Now, you have to know that I get a lot of E-mail that does not survive the “delete” button bomb. This one survived because it did not have a special format. It also has traces of having been written by an English-as-a-second–language person. I was now sure that it was original.

So I kept on reading even though I found myself in slight disagreement with the overall message. By the time I got to the end, I decided to respond with my own convictions about human relationships.

When you read my response you’ll notice that crying is OK. In fact, it is easier to cry than to laugh. Everybody knows that.

Crying is so basic that it is hard to fake it. Fake a laugh and everyone knows it.

So, go ahead and cry all you want, just cry yourselves out before I die so that you won’t have to fake a smile and a happy heart at my funeral.

Here is the E-mail:

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or theirs, the relationship comes to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it, it is real, but only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

My response:

Thank you. My personal faith about the congruity of lives is that once it begins, it is there for eternity, no matter how long it lasts or how intense it is. We never lose the congruity that God allows us to have with one another.

Every point of human contact has a spiritual element of eternity, whether it is comfortable for us or not it is a part of God's plan for our eternal salvation.

Every human contact is a blessing from above. Some makes us cry out of love; some makes us cry out of frustration; some makes us cry out of satisfaction; some makes us cry out of sadness; some makes us cry out of passion; some makes us cry out of compassion; some makes us cry out of hatred; some makes us cry out of joy; some makes us cry out of violence; some makes us cry out of fondling gentleness.

We never cry out of indifference.

Thank you and yours for your spiritual presence to me; thank you for bringing the presence of God to me; thank you for being one of the sweet reasons why I cry.

I won’t cry at your funeral if you promise not to cry at mine.

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