Wednesday, June 16

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
—Romans 12:15

We are all together in this thing we call life. We share the reality of being human—the experience of breathing, feeling, hoping, despairing, searching, betraying, laughing, weeping. While each of us is unique, our humanity ties us to every other human being on this planet. 

Yet we often feel as if our problems and our joys are ours alone. We can sometimes feel as if in our life's drama, we not only play the lead role, but all the supporting parts as well. We have only to go to the local bookstore and note the vast amount of self-help books to know that we are obsessed with ourselves.

The way we are released from self-obsession is to join in the common throng of emotion that is all around us. When someone around us finds their heart set on fire with joy over some news, their joy can become our own. When someone has fallen into a pit of pain and despair, we can cry with them. 

When we rejoice with those who are happy, we find that our own heart is lightened. When we weep with those who weep, we find that the shadows and questions surrounding our own soul are no longer as crucial as we thought. 

If we enter the door of life with others whose hearts are dancing or whose hearts are broken, we will miraculously find that the ragged splinters in our own soul are healed.

O God, let my eyes turn outward so that I may become more fully human, more fully alive.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2003.