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A Healing Balm
Tears Can Heal
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.
Washington Irving
Tears often get a bad wrap, some even see them as a sign of weakness. Tears are not a sign of weakness, they are a sign of strength. It takes strength to cry, whether it is tears of joy or tears of sorrow, tears offer a path to healing in a society that hides what we feel.
Every individual feels things differently, grieves and celebrates differently, but that doesn’t mean we don’t all experience those things that bring tears to our eyes and lumps in our throats.
I have friends who are some of the strongest people I know, but more than that, they’re my family, even if not by familial blood, by Christ’s blood. At times, God uses these remarkable people to comfort me, and at other times, he uses me to comfort them.
Some people in our lives are so strong, we forget there are moments when they are vulnerable, when tears need to flow, so healing can truly begin.
A friend lost her husband just before Christmas, and she’s having a memorial service for him on Saturday. So for the past two weeks, I’ve been working on a poem for his service. She was in tears when I gave her the finished product, but I knew that spoke to how much she appreciated the effort I put into it, and I was glad that I had been able to help in some small way.
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
There will be times when we grieve, when we lose someone or something, whether to death, or in some other way, and there will be times when we need to lean on one another, when tears will help us heal.
Copyright ©️ Michelle R Kidwell
February.05.2024
