Eye 2 Eye: When Doves Cry

By Bishop Charles Scott

“How can you just leave me standing?
Alone in a world so cold?
Maybe I’m just too demanding,
maybe I’m just like my father, too bold.
Maybe you’re just like my mother
she’s never satisfied.
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like when doves cry."

The story has been told that a boy of 10 years and his mother were walking down the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the little boy reached to hold his mother’s hand and saw wounds on the back of her hands. When the boy asked her about the wounds she explained that the boy’s father and she were not getting along. She tried to rationalize their behavior to the child and make sense to him that sometimes it is best for everyone if a family allows each other to go their separate ways. The boy knew all too well the atmosphere of domestic violence perpetrated by his father. He was a victim of the constant chaos of a home affected by drunken rage and immorality. His mother made sure he was in church every Sunday and that he knew about Jesus Christ. The boy suffered from epilepsy but one day told his mother, “I am not going to be sick anymore, because an angel told me.” He knew that doves represented peace, purity and protection. He knew that doves are not supposed to cry.

Sixteen years later that child had reached adulthood and became an accomplished songwriter and musician. His lyrics admitted that he had grown into what he despised as a boy. The boy had become like his father, living out what he hated as a child. He had inherited his father’s lust for women, cravings for euphoric highs and uncontrollable temper. He personified carnality; he proclaimed cynicism; he portrayed chauvinism. He was now known as Prince and he knew that doves are not supposed to cry.

The song “When Doves Cry” was voted Billboard’s number 1 single in 1984 and ranked number 5 by VH1’s “The Greatest Songs of the 80s.” Why did the song have such mass appeal? It could be that perhaps a generation can identify with the message of dysfunctional families and disillusioned innocence. And, perhaps because everyone knows that, in spite of the tendencies of society, doves are not supposed to cry.

Each of us carries three generations: the past, the present and the future. We have in us the seed — that which has been passed down from our natural and spiritual fathers and mothers. We have in us the deed — that which we are performing in the now. But we must take heed — the lineage of tomorrow depends on the action of today. It has been well said that God is a generational God: He is the God of three generations — the past, the present and the future. He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Perhaps this is why the doves cry: a generation has forgotten their responsibility to the next generation. Doves cry when they are pacified not parented, pimped not protected, partitioned not perceived, pampered and not pastored. Doves cry when the past is more important than the future. Doves cry when the present is spent with no investment for tomorrow. Doves cry when safety is more important than salvation. Doves cry when acceptance, applause and accolades are desired more than the assurance that there is someone to carry the mantle in the next generation. No wonder so many doves are crying.

The Church of Jesus Christ should be committed to stopping the tears of the dove. We can dry the doves’ tears by focusing on becoming a mentoring church. We can dry the doves’ tears by ensuring each next generational leader has a spiritual coach. We can dry the doves’ tears by determining to have a powerful Christian college. We can dry the doves’ tears by repenting of our materialistic attitudes. We can dry the doves’ tears by returning to the basic foundations of Spirit-filled living. We can dry the doves’ tears by exemplifying the nature of Jesus Christ.

We cannot dry the doves’ tears without changing ourselves. We cannot stop the doves’ tears unless we do some things differently than the way we are now. We cannot stop the doves’ tears by trying to make this generation lose their identity and be like our generation. We cannot stop the doves’ tears without becoming transparent. We cannot stop the doves’ tears without taking a risk.

Somewhere today a little boy or girl is reaching out to find a hand to hold, a heart to love and a church to embrace. We should be that hand. We should be that heart. We should be that church. And we should see that eye to eye.