It’s a Family Affair: Weeping Men, Wailing Women, and Crying Children

 

It’s a Family Affair – Jeremiah 9:17

   "This is what the Lord Almighty says: Consider now, call for the wailing women to come, send for the most skillful of them." – Jeremiah 9:17

   Normally, when people say, "It is a family affair," they think of something joyous, celebratory, and happy. However, Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. When Jeremiah refers to a family affair in this passage, he is describing a situation in which everyone is crying.

   The children of Israel were experiencing the consequences of being out of alignment and out of congruence with God. Their thoughts, words, and actions that were not the highest and the best had consequences that reached beyond individuals and impacted the entire family and community. The sorrow, pain, repentance, penance, and penitence became a family affair.

   Yet there is an important life lesson in this passage: people need permission to feel. Crying does not mean someone is weak, faithless, or defeated. Sometimes tears are simply the body's and soul's way of releasing what has been carried for too long.

Firstly: The Weeping Men

   Men are often told that they cannot cry. Society may teach men to suppress emotions, hide pain, and remain silent regardless of what they are experiencing. But Jeremiah gives us another picture. Jeremiah was a man, a prophet, and a leader—and Jeremiah cried.

   Jeremiah expressed a desire for his head to be water and his eyes to become a fountain of tears so that he could weep day and night for God's people. His tears did not make him less of a man. His tears demonstrated that he cared deeply.

   Real men can cry. Men can feel. Men can release. Men can acknowledge disappointment, grief, frustration, compassion, and sorrow without losing their identity or strength.

   When people witness crime, violence, drugs, injustice, discrimination, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, ableism, or other forms of suffering, it is natural for the heart to be touched. Sometimes the appropriate response is simply to allow the tears to flow.

   When people feel, people deal. When people deal, people can heal. When people keep it real, God can be revealed.

Secondly: The Wailing Women

   Jeremiah instructed the people to call for the wailing women the women who were skilled in mourning. In the biblical world, professional mourners were sometimes called upon to express grief during times of death and tragedy.

   The presence of the wailing women demonstrates that grief was not something to be hidden. There was a place for tears, mourning, lamentation, and emotional expression. Sometimes people simply need permission to have a good cry.

   When someone transitions from this life, when a relationship ends, when separation or divorce occurs, when betrayal happens, or when someone experiences abuse, neglect, disappointment, or loss, tears may naturally come. There is no shame in allowing those emotions to surface.

   People often ask, "Have you prayed about it?" Prayer is important, but sometimes another question is worth asking: "Have you cried about it?" Prayer can release something spiritually, while tears can provide an emotional release. Both can become part of the process of letting go.

   Sometimes a meaningful song, movie, memory, conversation, or moment of reflection can open the emotional floodgates. When the tears come, there is no need to fight them. Let them flow. Give yourself permission to feel what you feel.

Thirdly: The Crying Children

   Children cry because crying is one of their primary ways of communicating. Before babies can articulate what they need, they cry. Their tears communicate hunger, discomfort, fear, exhaustion, pain, or the need for connection.

   The crying children remind us that emotional expression is natural. Somewhere along the journey of growing up, people may learn to suppress the very emotions they once expressed freely. Adults may become frustrated, disappointed, hurt, or overwhelmed and then tell themselves they must simply "be strong."

   But strength does not require emotional suppression. You can be strong and still cry. You can have faith and still cry. You can love God and still experience sadness. You can be spiritually mature and still have moments when the tears fall.

   Instead of judging yourself for crying, consider what your tears may be communicating. Perhaps something needs to be released. Perhaps something needs to be acknowledged. Perhaps your heart needs compassion. Perhaps the tears are making room for healing.

Crying Is a Family Affair

   Jeremiah's message presents a powerful picture: weeping men, wailing women, and crying children. Everyone was affected. Everyone had emotions. Everyone needed an opportunity to release what was happening within.

   This reminds us that emotional healing is not limited to one gender, one age group, or one type of person. Everybody has moments when life becomes overwhelming. Everybody experiences loss. Everybody encounters disappointment. Everybody has moments when words fail and tears become the language of the heart.

   There are times when you may cry because something happened. There are times when you may cry because something did not happen. You may even cry because you wanted to act but felt prevented from doing so. Whatever the reason, give yourself permission to acknowledge the emotion.

   Crying is not the destination; release is part of the journey. Tears can help you acknowledge what hurts, release what you have been carrying, and create space to move forward with greater peace and clarity.

Conclusion

   It is a family affair. The weeping men remind us that vulnerability does not diminish strength. The wailing women remind us that grief deserves expression. The crying children remind us that emotional expression is a natural part of being human.

   Give yourself permission to cry. Give yourself permission to feel. Give yourself permission to release pain, frustration, disappointment, grief, and sorrow. You do not have to hide your tears to prove your faith.

   There is healing in acknowledging what is real. There is freedom in releasing what has been carried. And there is grace in allowing yourself to be fully human while continuing to trust God.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: Consider now, call for the wailing women to come, send for the most skillful of them." – Jeremiah 9:17

📖 Reflection: What emotion, disappointment, grief, or pain have you been carrying that you may need to give yourself permission to release?

💡 Action Step: Create a quiet moment today to acknowledge your emotions without judgment. Pray, journal, talk with someone you trust, or simply allow yourself to cry and release whatever you have been carrying.