About-the-Song Series, track 7: Man of Sorrows

I too had my share of tears..., a photo by AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora on Flickr.

A friend of mine announced to me and others one Sunday afternoon that his/her parents were getting divorced. The words came out so matter-of-factly, the same way you might say, "I like pizza," or "can you pass the remote?" To be honest, the lack of emotion impacted me even more strongly than the news of the divorce did. I burst into tears. It was really strange! Why was I crying when my friend wasn't at all?
I sat down to write a song the next day and found myself so distracted by the lingering sense of grief I'd been feeling since I heard the news from my friend. What was going on???
It was the haunting sense of numb. The sense that my friend had grown so used to functioning amongst the broken pieces (like so many of us are) that it just didn't seem like he/she should make it a big deal. Or maybe my friend just didn't "have time" to cry? Caught in the race to build a life & future the way we like to do at break-neck speeds. So much pressure to keep it all together; no time for falling apart.
There at the antique store/coffee shop, I wrote a prayer for my friend, then began reading around our inspiration chapter, Isaiah 61, and found Isaiah 53.
"Man of Sorrows" was born on this day. It's a song written to be a safe, quiet island for those in need of an escape; an excuse, if just for 5 minutes, to cry their tears with someone who understands...