The Case for Lamentation

In an age where clarity is rare and wisdom mocked, those who see are left with three choices:

To rage at the folly,

To laugh at the absurdity,

Or to weep at the loss of reason.

Rage consumes, and laughter often emboldens the fool.

But sorrow—sorrow may yet soften a heart.

We cannot compel the foolish to wisdom,

Nor halt the mirth that multiplies ignorance.

Yet tears may plant a seed.

For in lament, there is truth.

In sorrow, a pause.

And in that pause, perhaps—repentance.

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Ecclesiastes 7:3–4 — “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

Jeremiah 9:1— “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”

Luke 19:41–42 — “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!’”

Lamentations 2:11 –“My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people…”

D&C 109:48 – “Our hearts flow out with sorrow because of our enemies.”

Moses 7:28–29 – “And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept… And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep?”

Moses 7:41 – “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men… and Enoch saw them, and he had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren…”