Sacred Tears
April 19, 2010

I had to catch my breath.

Early one morning last week I checked Facebook and saw this status:

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.”
β€” Washington Irving

I’m a crier. Weddings, funerals, books, movies, songs. The groom’s face at first glimpse of his bride. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. The book of Psalms. The Notebook. It’s embarrassing at times, but overall I count it as a blessing; I’d rather cry than not feel at all.

I’ve seen some tears this week. A few days ago at Manna House: a mother in raw, anguished grief on the morning after her daughter’s violent death. Later that day, a daughter’s agony as she searched for her missing parents and feared the worst.

Those moments took my breath away.

The women’s tears opened the door for comfort; an outward sign of need and vulnerability that would perhaps not otherwise have been expressed. An opportunity for others to empathize and walk with them through the grief, even if only for a moment or two. And an honor for me to be invited onto the sacred ground of another’s tears.

I’m comforted by Psalm 56:8:

Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll (or in your wineskin); are they not in your record?

In ancient times, tear bottles (or wineskins) were used to catch the owners’ tears in times of grief. King David wrote this Psalm as he was being pursued by enemies who sought to kill him. Some scholars say David believed that God has a tear bottle of His own in which He collects our tears.

I love that thought. That He sees each tear as it falls and keeps them in His bottle. That every tear I shed is known to Him. And that He comes, with tear bottle in hand, into to those raw, vulnerable moments when the tears will not be contained any other way.

Amen.

2 Comments

  1. beth g sanders

    Oh, please do use that quote! I stole it from a friend's Facebook status πŸ™‚

    Thanks so much for visiting and commenting – please let me know when your article is published – from one crier to another, I'd love to read it!

    Reply
  2. Charissa Steyn

    Hi Beth! I just found your site through Lindsey Nobles. Anyways… I saw this quote you wrote about tears. I can so relate to being a crier:) I am actually writing an article on this at the moment. Do you mind if I use this quote from Irving about tears?

    Let me know πŸ™‚ Thanks!! Charissa

    Reply

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