A contemplative Lenten reflection on holding the world's pain without numbing or rage — exploring the cross, René Girard's scapegoat theory, and what it means to see clearly and stay soft.

Most of us were taught to manage our emotions. Push through. Stay strong. Or the spiritual version: pray harder, give it to God.

But emotions don't just live in the mind. They live in the chest, the throat, the gut. And they wait — patient and heavy — for permission to move.

The desert tradition called it "joy-producing sorrow." The joy isn't a replacement for the sorrow. It's what's underneath it.