tears

we shed them at weddings, at graduations, at birthdays, at funerals, at happy endings, at milestones, at good jokes...when we're happy, when we feel true joy, when we rise, when we fall, when we're sad, when we feel deep sorrow...tears.

the word "tear" also means to pull apart. to be conflicted between two things. to be pulled in two directions. 

i've been feeling this word the past week. i received a "save the date" for a wedding (you know who you are!) & walked in the house with it in my hand only to burst into tears. the tears were tears of joy for the blessing of their marriage but also tears of sadness that i won't be there to witness it. thus i felt torn. i felt torn between two places, between two feelings, between two countries, between two communities, between two lives almost. 

pieces of my heart are across a giant ocean. pieces of my heart live here in dublin. pieces of my heart are carried by people around the world, some of whom don't even know they have these pieces. tears of sadness come when i think of these pieces. when i think of the distance between all of them. tears of joy come when i think of those who carry them & their impact on my life. there are tears in our lives. 

one of my favorite bible stories is the when the woman washes jesus' feet with her tears. the story is in luke 7:36-50 & i love the imagery of the story. it's a story of a woman expressing herself & her relationship with jesus through tears. you can just picture her bending down, so emotional she begins to cry. she's literally at jesus' feet weeping (for what it's not clear but i'd like to think it's a mixture of joy & sorrow). this story is a story of amazing grace, incredible mercy & an outrageous love. she brought all she had to the feet of the One who saves & her faith in Him saved her. despite her sinfulness, she brought all she had to the only One who could wash it all away. her sacrifice of all she had, including the weight & vulnerability of her tears, brought her to the savior's feet & set her free.

then in revelation 21:4 we are told that when christ returns, every tear will be wiped away. the magnitude of that truth is breathtaking & ironically tear jerking. it's an incredible thing. He will wipe away all the death, pain & mourning. all the separation from each other & from Him will be stitched back together. He will dry our eyes. He takes our tears.

quotes on tears

• but there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer. –viktor e. frankl
• perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see life with a  clearer view again. –alex tan
• i think you have to pay for love with bitter tears. –edith piaf
• there is a sadness 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, & of unspeakable love. –washington irving
• beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. -edgar allan poe
• tears are the silent language of grief. –voltaire
• there are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers. -saint teresa of avila
• men must live and create. live to the point of tears. -albert camus
• joy's smile is much closer to tears than laughter. -victor hugo
• heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. i was better after i had cried, than before—more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle. –charles dickens
• he wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful & sad, like music. -james joyce
• my eyes were glued on life & they were full of tears. -jack kerouac
• he wept, & it felt as if the tears were cleansing him, as if his body needed to empty itself. -lois lowry
• but smiles & tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: i often cry when i am happy, & smile when i am sad. –anne bronte