Have you ever been driving along in your car, only to discover that the person driving in the car next to you is crying, or sobbing, or maybe even whaling?  It might have been me, or maybe it was you, that someone saw.

Car crying is a different type of crying.  It brings a deep cleansing.  It is one of the few places one feels really free to purge the emotions that so often remain trapped inside.  Car crying enables you to let it out with reckless abandon, void of self-consciousness, and with little fear.  In a world where it is hard to find true solitude, our vehicles serve as an urban oasis.

What strikes me, is the difficulty we have with expressing such deep emotion around even those who love us.  Do we dare lose control of our emotions in front of someone?  What if they don’t perceive the reason for our uncontrollable crying to be valid?  What if they try to get us to stop emoting?  What if it makes them uncomfortable and they withdraw?  What if they reject us?  What if it is met with apathy or even disdain?  Quite possible.

These are the shadows of human love.  Our love is broken…there are no marriages, families, friendships, or communities wherein the strains, stresses, and pains of broken love are not keenly felt.

But our broken love is a reflection of the perfect love offered us by God in whom there are no shadows.  Hope.

So the next time you’re crying in your car, reflect on this perfect love.  In turn, may we become greater reflections of this love to others!