[okiedokie]

Hi,
Every time I go to church, I cry my eyes out. I went to grade school there, got married, baptized both kids there, buried my mother there, and I know it's where I'll be buried.

Should I be going to another church? I've gotten to the point that I know not to wear eye makeup because it will be streaming down my cheeks before communion! I think I was the only one bawling at Easter mass!

Obviously, I feel at home there, but I also feel very sad.
Thanks,
Okie

[bebop]

to me church is very emotional also but mine is that I just feel the love of God and His spirit there.

[SeptemberMorn]

Sounds like you have some pretty deep roots in that church. You suppose maybe there's some things you need to deal with or come to terms with and that's why you always cry there?

[jefftele]

i've cried in churches and i know other people who have too.for me i relate it to gods love when i feel awful ,i think the poor relationship with my father when i was a child had a part to play ,the god the father bit especially,like a lot of things its difficult to find the exact reason.i don't see crying as bad unless you are embarrassed by it or upsetting others,you are crying for a reason why not ask god why you cry so much? could you not speak to someone at the church ,priest /vicar, tears are better out than kept in i think a lot of people would recommend that ,but you have to do what is right for you

[Rapunzel]

Can you tell what you feel sad about? LIke, are you sad because of feeling like you aren't as accepted or acceptable as you want to be? Or is it associated with memories? Does the music get to you? Tears of gratitude, maybe?

I've done my share of crying in church too, and I'd say that all of the above are factors for me at one time or another. There was once when I was really upset and had been holding it in long enough to get to church, and then trying to sit there, with nothing else to do but listen and think, all of my garbage started leaking out and was uncontainable. Music opens the connection to feeling for me too, so that would have contributed. I cried really hard and had to go hide in the bathroom.

A pastor's wife once told me that our tears are captured by angels and placed at the feet of G-d where He blesses the one who shed them because s/he allowed themself to be open to being ministered to by the Holy Spirit.

Tears are how we release sorrow... they are how we receive healing.... tears are how we release joy.... tears are not to be suppressed but to be allowed to flow freely.

It has been my experience that when I let the tears come and I let myself cry until I have no more tears to shed that I am always blessed with a joy that only comes from the Holy Spirit. An almost giddy, childlike happiness that comes when I am set free of whatever it was that caused me to cry. Even if I don't know why I am crying. It is of no consequence. It may not be for me to know. Often our need for intellectual understand is the biggest barrier to our receiving the greatest of all spiritual gifts. Those of love, joy and peace.

Bless you....

[shadowolf]

I used to go to church when I was a child and even then I remember how full of love the church seemed to me.
I had a very awesome experience when I was a young adult. We went to a place that was a "ghost town". There was an old church there and I wanted to go inside and see what it looked like. The minute I walked through the door, I felt this overwhelming feeling of love that just made me cry. I was told that I have a strong love for Jesus and maybe that's what happens with you. There is nothing in the world like that feeling.

What an awesome story. Thanks for sharing that shadowolf. For sure you have a very sensitive spirit to be able to feel these things.

[shadowolf]

Thank you chocolatelover.

[okiedokie]

Thank you ALL very much for your responses. It means a lot to me.
Take care,
Okie