Tears

You may not think this word should be counted as a contender on a list of positive words; but nevertheless, I have some positive thoughts to share as I sit here this morning, recalling the thousands of times those tiny drops of water flowed from my eyes.  I’m not a big crier anymore, even at most funerals.  It’s a little unsettling to me – that something possibly is wrong when the tears don’t flow quite so easily. 

One of my best friends will cry at the drop of a hat, and we always laugh and say we balance out each other.   Our tears flow for many different reasons – from happiness, stress, sadness over a loss, and even tears of joy and laughter.  Many times, I’ve shed tears when I’ve actually felt our Lord’s presence during prayer or singing a favorite hymn and especially when I served as a Eucharistic Minister.  Did you ever stop to think about where our tears come from that ignite so easily when we’re emotional.  They cause our vision to blur and the faucets to turn on.  But think of it this way – God made us AND He made our tears.  He had a purpose for each one that runs down our cheeks.  Even Jesus wept! 

God gave us our tears as a release, which many times we so desperately need.  In our stressful and sadden times, I believe it is through our tears that we are also healed from within.  And I’m sure you’ve had times when a good belly laugh had healing effects too!   I was curious about what was written in scripture with regards to tears.  Psalms recount the story of David who wrote, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.”  The Philistines had captured David, and at the time of writing those words, he was a prisoner of war.  A good reason for his tears!  He is asking God to gather his tears in His bottle. 

Can you imagine that God really has a bottle where all our tears go from all the events in our lives that we experience?   This story and explanation that I got from gotquestions.org says that David is expressing a deep trust in God.   God will remember his sorrow and tears and will not forget him.  David is confident that God is on his side.  So, although we know that God isn’t physically keeping each one of our tears in a big bottle in heaven, it’s David’s way of expressing his confidence that God is always with us every day.  He is with us, celebrating our joyful tears, collecting our tears in our stressful times, and holding us ever so tight in our sorrowful times.   Let’s remember when our tears flow that God created those tears and desires us to know that He understands and blesses every one that falls from our eyes.

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”  Ecclesiastes 3:4