Bud Wilson laughed many, many times, and shed many, many tears. I have seen my dad go through the entire spectrum of emotion. I’ve seen him sad, mad and glad. Fortunately for me and those around him, you didn’t have to wonder how he felt- he let you know.
Bud would have never been a good poker player, because he wasn’t good at hiding his feelings. But contrary to traditional thinking, I’m thinking that this characteristic was an asset for him, rather than a liability. While most of us bottle up our emotions, playing our cards held tightly to our vest, he laid his emotions out on the line. Our family grew up with that, and it’s made me a more open person.
While that can open a person up for a variety of issues, it also means there are few surprises, for you or for those in your life. Your stress level is much less, and your blood pressure is more apt to be somewhere closer to normal.
Conventional wisdom teaches us that big boys don’t cry. But I learned from my father that you can be a “man’s man” and still shed a barrel of tears. Bud cried when he was happy and when he was sad. But he was never ashamed of his tears- he let them flow.
He’s not the only manly man that left an example of tears. Jesus wept over the loss of a friend and the rebellion of His people. The prodigal’s father wept for joy when his son returned to him. David, one of the mightiest warrior kings ever, said in Psalm 56 that God had kept track of his tears. One of these days, when we get to Heaven, the Bible says that God will wipe away our tears. But for the time being, while we are here, tears come in pretty handy. Feel free to use them when you need to.
The book of Proverbs says laughter does the heart good like a medicine. I believe that’s true. I’ve already written a bit about telling a joke and having a sense of humor, but I think that laughter does something deep within us; it taps into the child we still have inside. Dad loved a good practical joke, and when his mischief showed through with a hearty chuckle, somewhere in the twinkle of his eye, you could still see that little boy that once was.
It’s good to keep in touch with that kid in us. They keep us anchored and humble; they keep us from getting rusty and crusty. Also, it’s important to remember that no matter how old we are in this life, we are all children in God’s eyes. Jesus said that we need to be like little children to inherit the Kingdom of God
Someone once said, “You might as well laugh as to cry.” I say it’s all right to do both- sometimes even at the same time.
