Tears are weeping God's gift

While writing a letter recently to a dear friend whose life has fallen apart and who finds himself in a prison cell, far from his family, fellowship and friends, I could no longer see the page.

This onrush of tears surprised me, but it shouldn’t have done. It happens a lot these days.

Since passing through a decades-long trauma and some of the worst pain known to humanity, over 100 hospitalisations with radical surgeries, I have rediscovered my tear ducts.

I say this reluctantly because men think they are not supposed to cry. And I know why. From early on in life, boys are told that real men don’t cry.

The problem is that when they are older, they may stuff their feelings deep inside and withdraw emotionally from their loved ones, or self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, or even become suicidal.

Many men need to learn the skills of reconnecting with their emotions. And not just men and boys either.

If these salty facial droplets are seen as a sign of weakness or defeat, how come God pays them so much attention in the Bible? When Jewish people sit down to engage with their annual Passover feast it reminds them of the tears their ancestors shed during their 430 years of captivity in Egypt.

They take a little salt water and dip herbs in it, drinking the sour brew as a sharp memorial to a troubled period in their history.

Yet, those tears were a big part of their eventual freedom.

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