To Rejoice! -or- to Weep! -or- to Cheer!

LONG TERM PROJECT - WORD STUDY PROJECT

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How much of this choice (to rejoice, to weep, and/or to cheer) is really effective without the 'us', the 'our', and the 'we' of the body of Christ being engaged together?

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How to know when to rejoice, when to weep, and when to give cheer when showing mercy? (Romans 12)

So, the question between rejoicing and weeping, that does not seem so complicated.......

But what is this 'showing mercy' by giving cheer?  While I have some sense of this, I feel challenged to grow more....... perhaps much more, in understanding this both in principle and in action.......

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This is not an entry to declare having arrived....... at anything........ but more just an entry to declare the question itself.......

Thus, this is a 'catchall' blog to which I hope to add extra verses over time..... (in three sections after a bit of thinking out loud......):

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Rejoice with those that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.  

Be of the same mind one with another....... (ooooo, good clue there......, leaves me thinking of the informal study one author wrote out past the page and onto my heart - once upon a time in my life - again, not having arrived, but my heart is set on growing in this:  the study?  who was the person in a given crowd who the most people felt comfortable being around, and why?  ....... the answer left me a bit stunned:  the person who people were most comfortable being around did simply this:  they ate at the same pace as the people around them...... if they were eating with a fast eater, they ate quickly; if they were eating with a slow person, they ate slowly...... so, 'be of the same mind one with another'....? this is somewhat clear..... - not automatic for me, but somewhat clear.....)

But to show mercy by giving cheer? My mind wanders to the lovely girls who bathed my father when he was on his deathbed in ICU.  They cheerfully chatted together while still showing both my comatose father and myself great respect and regard...... happy to serve my father by bathing him and doing all they could to make him comfortable before they moved on to cheerfully serve another........

That picture is quite clear to me .......

But how those principles apply to other scenarios?

When to move from rejoicing, to weeping, to eating quickly, to eating slowly, to being a bit sombre, to being cheerful while showing mercy?

That is not so much my grace.

I so admire those two girls who ministered to my father.  They are on my heart and mind often.  I desire to be more like them, and to think, "What would they do in this case, or that?" - - - not to idolize them, but to try to see if the spark-of-God that is so strong in them in this area might help me to leave behind my past, and press on to grow at least somewhat in this area in my own life.......

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Towards that end.......

REJOICE

Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. (Romans 12)

If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.  (Proverbs 27:14 NIV)

WEEP

"Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow."  (II Cor 2:7)

SHOW MERCY WITH CHEERFULNESS

"Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow."  (II Cor 2:7)

Ann Voskamp said of this verse:  "The King James Version uses the phrase 'swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." As I pursued the thought, I discovered that overwhelmed is the same Greek word that Peter uses when he says that Satan seeks to "devour" us (I Pet 5:8).  "Lord, is my grief over my failure excessive sorrow? And does it make me vulnerable to enemy attack and accusation?"  I asked."