Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?

One night this past week, the pain of life took hold of me. I wept almost the entire night. I longed to be comforted by someone--anyone and I could barely recognize God in my midst. Of course, my prayer was not answered which made matters worse.

The next morning I woke up after a few hours of sleep and during morning prayer, I flipped open my bible hoping to find a word of comfort. I was met with the words of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. 

"Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?"

Jesus asks the simplest questions. His eyes are on me as he says "Woman." He looks me in the eyes with compassion and only asks of me two questions after the long ordeal:

Why are you weeping?

Who are you looking for?

We weep for all kinds of reasons. Loss. Frustration. Sorrow. Feeling forsaken and betrayed. Is what I am weeping for to feel and experience his love and embrace in my deepest of pain--when he feels so far from me and almost absent? 

We look for all kinds of people to heal our pain and sorrow--our everyday saviors who don't really save us. Is the person who is supposed to comfort me already in my midst? Is it Jesus Christ who lives in my heart waiting to console me and offer peace? 

Jesus already knows why we were weeping and who we were looking for, but his questions prompt us to reflect on what we are really searching for and what is really aching in our hearts in our sorrows, so that we can find him there.