“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.” ~Psalm 126:5

YOU NEVER KNOW

what may cause tears. Tears of pain. Tears of sadness. Tears of joy. Tears unexpected. Tears that embarrass. Tears while with friends. Tears while alone. I have experienced them all. Perhaps you have as well.

Tears have proven health benefits. Crying makes us feel better, even if their cause remains unresolved. Emotional tears help heal the heart. Yet you’ve heard it said, or said yourself, “I’m sorry, I am trying not to cry. It’s embarrassing and makes me feel weak.” There is a “real men don’t cry,” male ego that agrees, illustrated by a memorable line from the movie, A League of Their Own, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

On the other hand, Judith Orloff, M.D., says, “The new enlightened paradigm of what constitutes a powerful man and woman is someone who has the strength and self awareness to cry. These are the people who impress me, not those who put up some macho front of faux-bravado.”

[1]

TEARS ARE UNPREDICTABLE

A warm summer night reminds you of the magic moment you asked the woman you love, “Will you marry me?” A movie or television program causes unguarded tears because suddenly, you are there—in the story—reminded of something that has happened or will happen. Something joyful or painful, beautiful or tragic. The day you say goodbye to your son or daughter as they go off to boot camp or to college, knowing life has forever changed for you both. You are proud, sad, excited, scared, perhaps all in the same moment as tears run down your cheeks.

One of two television programs I look forward to is Bluebloods. I enjoy it on many levels, the action, the relationships, the Reagan family gathered around the dinner table at the programs’s end. In a recent emotional scene, there was tough Danny Regan (Donnie Wahlberg), letting go of a deep personal hurt, tears reflecting the sadness in his eyes. Sitting alone, watching, I unexpectedly identified and was deeply touched by the scene, tearing up myself, as in that moment, I saw me in someone else.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.”[2] I’m sure Paul knew what it was to smile and chuckle at something humorous. But he also learned the importance of putting his arm around a discouraged younger brother, urging him to stay the course. He knew well “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”[3]

So, If you are discouraged, or you’re going through a rough patch in life, or you are being tested by those you’ve been called to serve, by those whom Jesus loves—see yourself in someone else! Heroes of the faith “sow with tears.” They also “reap with songs of joy.”

NO TEARS IN HEAVEN

For the Lamb at the center of the throne

    will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’

    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”[4]

In life there is always a “time to weep,” to have “the strength and self awareness to cry.”

There is also “a time to dance!”

Shall we . . .?

[1] Judith Orloff, author, “The Empath’s Survival Guide” and “Emotional Freedom,”

[2] Acts 29:19

[3] Ecclesiastes 3:4

[4] Revelation 7:17