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Jesus Wept · Backward Mutters Poetry Podcast

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: You are listening to the Backward Mutters Poetry Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Please visit online at backwardmutters.substack.com.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: There you can subscribe via your favorite podcast player and read the newsletter.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Randy Edmonds.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Today's poem was written in response to a charcoal drawing that artist Hannah Pabon
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: created as a part of a community art project created by the Almond Tree Artist
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  SPEAKER_00: Collective's exhibit,
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  SPEAKER_00: Another Way of Seeing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hannah's painting,
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  SPEAKER_00: He Wept,
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  SPEAKER_00: is a tableau drawn from the many pictures that filled the media following the
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  SPEAKER_00: invasion of the Ukraine in February of 2022.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her response to the news and the invasion and the images of those suffering
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  SPEAKER_00: reminded her of Jesus weeping before the tomb of Lazarus.
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  SPEAKER_00: The tears of Jesus and the tears of those grieving over their loss and suffering at
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  SPEAKER_00: the hands of others moved her to compassion.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I first saw Hannah's painting,
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  SPEAKER_00: my eye was drawn to one detail of her drawing,
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  SPEAKER_00: which depicts a mother and a child.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm still deeply moved by it.
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  SPEAKER_00: The image reminded me of a quote from Eugene Peterson's book,
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  SPEAKER_00: Christ Plays in 10,000 Places,
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  SPEAKER_00: which continues to fuel my imagination.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peterson says that we are not alone in our grieving.
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  SPEAKER_00: The tears which Jesus cried on the cross serve a purpose.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in speaking of our tears and how they connect with Jesus',
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  SPEAKER_00: Peterson writes,
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  SPEAKER_00: all these tears are gathered up and absorbed in the tears of Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hannah's compassion for those suffering in the Ukraine inspired her to make,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what she made in turn inspired me.
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  SPEAKER_00: The poem I wrote in response to her drawing is a poem of three scenes from the
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  SPEAKER_00: Bible in which tears are mentioned.
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  SPEAKER_00: They range from King David's words in Psalm 42,
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  SPEAKER_00: to Jesus' tears at the tomb of Lazarus,
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  SPEAKER_00: to Mary Magdalene's tears at the tomb on Easter morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: The final scene directs attention to us and our tears.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm very grateful to Hannah for sharing her artwork,
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  SPEAKER_00: and I encourage you to check out her art and follow her on Instagram,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is linked here in the podcast notes.
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  SPEAKER_00: The poem is titled, Jesus Wept.
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  SPEAKER_00: All day long my tears have been my food.
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  SPEAKER_00: I feast on groans, see not one thing good, while men scoff all day, laugh at me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Where is your God?
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  SPEAKER_00: they ask mockingly.
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  SPEAKER_00: How long it has been since I leapt, coming to your house with tears of joy wept.
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  SPEAKER_00: Would he indignant over a friend who died,
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  SPEAKER_00: who before his tomb broke down and cried,
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  SPEAKER_00: would he who is resurrection and life,
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  SPEAKER_00: though pierced by death with grief as a knife,
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  SPEAKER_00: would his tears gather up and keep the tears of all those who mourn and weep?
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  SPEAKER_00: Mary,
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  SPEAKER_00: before dawn,
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  SPEAKER_00: went to the tomb to do for him the last thing she could do,
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  SPEAKER_00: for the one whom she loved,
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  SPEAKER_00: who had set her free,
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  SPEAKER_00: who died on Friday,
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  SPEAKER_00: cursed,
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  SPEAKER_00: hanged on a tree.
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  SPEAKER_00: The tomb emptied, not one thing left, leaving Mary only the tears she wept.
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  SPEAKER_00: Then from behind, she heard him speak.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why are you crying?
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  SPEAKER_00: Whom do you seek?
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  SPEAKER_00: Blinded by tears, she sobbed, I can't find him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Have they taken my Lord, stolen him again?
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  SPEAKER_00: When he said Mary, her heart leapt, and she saw through the veil of tears she wept.
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  SPEAKER_00: What of us?
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  SPEAKER_00: What shall be done with the tears we've wept?
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  SPEAKER_00: Who shall quiet the storm of fears?
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  SPEAKER_00: Shall our tears too be caught up and swept away in the tears our Lord Jesus wept?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes, every tear, till not one's left, for our tears are those for whom Jesus wept.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to the Backward Mutters Poetry Podcast.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Randy Edwards.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.