TEARS:THE GRACE OF GOD

Tears of sorrow, tears of joy, tears of pain, tears of relief or of ecstasy, compassion or whatever.

Weeping must mean something, isn’t it?

But I wonder is it something to be called a healthy behaviour? Is it something to be deprived or ashamed of? May be yes or may be not so let’s find out what our philosophy and science say about human tears.

Since ancient times weeping is explained as a part of shared human language of emotional expression. But don’t you think if weeping were a gesture with a single meaning, part of a universal language of feeling, then it would depict the grief and pain out of the anxiety, depression, emotional breakdown and etc. That’s how it has been most frequently connected. Yet there are countless tears of joy too.

As far as the science is concerned, tear is a universal sign not in the sense that it has the same meaning in all times and at all places but because it can signify just about anything. While for a student who desperately needs to pass an exam it would be tears of relief, for a class topper it would be tears of joy and while for some other it would be tears of guilt for not being attentive and sincere towards studies and academics or for someone else it would be tears out of jealousy and rivalry. That’s how it is.

While it stimulates our empathetic response of care and sympathy, it can be a reflection of one’s inability to cope up with a situation. Crying not only allows people to release their feelings and hopefully achieve satisfaction and relief but it also stimulates others to the individual’s emotional condition and encourages their support. It even improves our mood and reflects normal psychological functioning.

What a soap is for a baby, tears are for a soul. Perhaps, Pope Francis said at his best: “A flow of tears indicates that the person’s heart is involved not just his or her mind. Certain realities of life are seen only with eyes that are cleansed by tears. After all you see, sometimes in our lives, the glasses we need to see Jesus are tears.” For people who are safe, comfortable and loved he said, “learning how to weep for others is a part of following Jesus who wept at the death of Lazarus and has moved with compassion at the suffering of countless others.”

And yet today, tears are commonly seen as a form of weakness as being ‘childish’ or in the negative sense.

I remember the time, I cried my eyes out and with those tears when I met my parents after months, I let go of so much of the pain I had been holding unto my heart for so long. And what I felt was better, lighter, freer  like so much of weight had been released off my shoulders.

That’s why what I like to conclude is, “Let go off whatever has been holding you. Cry me a river, build a bridge and get rid of it and that’s all.”

Stay happy, stay connected!!!