To be honest, this is a bit of a different frame than the one I usually bring to this conversation, but it's an important conversation to have.
In Christ on the Psych Ward, I recount an experience of sitting with my dad in the hospital and seeing him cry:
"I was witnessing something taboo: an alternative image of what it meant to be a man....Tears are both a way to mourn and a way to reach out, to show the sort of vulnerability that invites empathy, connection, and, ultimately, relationship. My dad was crying on the psych ward, mourning his son's hurt and also, perhaps, instinctively trying to establish his empathetic connection....As my dad was crying, perhaps God was crying, too."
I’ll be expanding a bit on that experience, and the way it informs how I think about God-images, faith, and ministry, in my talk on Thursday.
