Why are we often taught or encouraged not to cry by other members of society? Men may feel they’ll be seen as lacking masculinity, women may fear being branded as unprofessional, weak, or overly-emotional – depending on the setting they are in, and children may receive cruel taunts from their peers.
But tears are a wonderful thing, given to us by God. He designed us fearfully well, and that includes every last detail: not a mistake among them. Pause to think for a moment about what tears do for us.
They keep our eyes moist. A doctor recently put me on a prescription drug I’d never been on before. I woke up early this morning to discover one of the drug’s side effects in me – some of the driest eyes I’d ever had. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to grab some eye drops (something I almost never need to do).
They keep our hearts tender. Life circumstances over the past six weeks have driven me to cry far more than I have in a long time. While I am still careful about who I cry in front of (a trait I cannot seem to avoid), I know that releasing emotion through a good cry – sometimes more than once a day – has helped me to keep a healthy perspective and a heart that flies above fear to continue loving.
They keep our souls open. No matter if they are tears of sadness, happiness, frustration, or some other emotion, they open a temporary chasm where, sometimes only for a moment, the deepest core of you and I can be touched by the fingers of eternity. In our rawness, with nothing to hide us, we are simply self before God and any other(s) who might witness our tears.
Yes… That is why we are afraid to cry. Because when we are that real, we are that fragile. And the one(s) listening to us cry have a choice. They can either mock, despise, or punish us for our tears. OR they can respect our need to open up and drive out what should not remain – the flushing of the impure or the painful from the eyes, the heart, the soul.
If you need to cry today, find a space in which to do it, whether alone or with others. And if you find yourself near a crying person today, recognize the power you hold in how you choose to respond: the power to crush and harm or the power to nurture health and healing.
In the comments, I invite you to share your thoughts about tears.