Skipping the Sad

Jim, Pam, Dwight, Angela, Kevin and Creed. If you’re anything like me, you love them more than Dwight loves beets, bears and Battlestar Galactica. If you don’t recognize the names, they are characters from my all-time favorite show, The Office. 

While these people may not be your crew, you’ve probably found a similar affection for other TV characters from Friends to Cheers, Happy Days to the Andy Griffith Show. When we watch characters for years on end, they become a part of our lives.

I’ve got a confession. I’ve watched The Office two complete times, and I’m currently on my third trip through. That’s probably not too unusual, we all have shows we continue to watch. But, here’s what may be unique to me. I skip certain episodes. I skip the one where Michael, the show’s main character, leaves. And, I also skip the last two episodes.

They are excellent but sad. I don’t like to be sad, so I avoid them. I don’t believe in being unnecessarily sad. Life can be sad enough, I’d rather not pay for a movie that makes me cry. Nobody enjoys sorrow. And, in the midst of that mindset, Jesus’ words seem strange.

I believe it’s a wise choice to move away from unnecessary sadness. But, to be completely transparent, sometimes I avoid sadness that is needed and necessary. There are certain situations worth mourning. 

We have a perfect heavenly Father, and a Savior whose love led Him to the cross. Yet, we still choose sin over our Savior. That’s worth mourning.

The world is a broken place. People suffer abandonment, hunger, hatred, sickness and slavery. That’s worth mourning.

We interact with individuals on a daily basis who are headed into an eternity of loneliness and suffering.  That’s worth mourning.

Mourning is necessary. It moves us from sin to repentance, from apathy to acts of love, from silence to sharing. 

Don’t miss out on mourning, for it may be through the sorrow that God begins to grow and use you. And when we mourn, we have this promise: We will be comforted!