I was listening to Kate Bowler interview the great theologian NT Wright here.

Wright said something that took my breath away. He said that when he teaches pastors he tells them something like, "When you look out at all the faces in your congregation remember that behind every face is a secret sorrow."

Behind every face---freshly washed and shiny---is a secret sorrow. Perhaps even sorrows, plural.

The same, of course, is true behind every face outside the church.

We all carry secret sorrows.

Here are some of mine:

People I love will die.

I won't ever become the person I wish I could be.

I sometimes hurt people despite my best efforts to not.

I carry more melancholy than I should considering the hand I have been dealt in life.

At times the earth is so breathtakingly beautiful my heart aches.

I have deep regrets about things I won't ever share aloud.

My thought life can be a real garbage pile.

I am occasionally judgmental.

Life is hard.

How about you?

Anyone else care to share a secret (or I guess not-so-secret) sorrow?

Have you noticed that when we share our sorrows a bit of magic happens?

We realize we are not the only ones; that we are part of a little club of sorrow carriers.

And we sigh with relief.

Our sorrow lifts ever so slightly.

And we are buoyed, even for a moment.

Photo by Ed Leszczynskl on Unsplash