Are You Weary, Are You Heavy-hearted?

July 23, 2018

–firstborn, and his maternal grandparents, 1982

 

Are you weary, are you heavy-hearted?

Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.

Are you grieving over joys departed?

Tell it to Jesus, alone.

–Edmund S. Lorenz, 1876

 

As I mature I see more and more the necessity of telling my suffering, intentionally and completely, to the right ear.  I am so grateful for those friends and loved ones who have held me and listened.  Hopefully I am growing in compassion and usefulness to others.  Or at least in my capacity to bear witness to how things are, that is, of a nature to die:

 

 

From that firm foundation, we can sing of life, ever-renewed.

 

I heard the voice of Jesus say, Come unto me and rest.

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down

thy head upon my breast.

 

I came to Jesus as I was: weary, and worn, and sad.

I found in him a resting place.

And he has made me glad.

–Horatius Bonar, 1846