Testimony of Tears

Sometimes the tears are the testimony. Sometimes the levels of pain are so deep that our words can only convey so much and the tears come. In the silence, the tears speak for us. In the tears, God is made flesh and weeps from within us.

As spiritual communities we find our meaning through the connections and relationships we nurture with each other and with God. Going deeper in our sense of being present to each other in the midst of suffering is part of the power of the testimony of tears. Last week my church held its first Blue Christmas service. The service was born out of a desire to create a space at church during the weeks leading up to Christmas where we could bring all of our tears without apologizing in a season where society commercializes joy.

So we named our tears, we blessed our tears and we called them holy. We named our tears: heartbreak for children who live with mental illness, anger for women who are harassed and abused, and lament for people like Venus who die too young because of our nation’s broken healthcare system that neglects the most vulnerable in society.

We named our tears in the silence. We took salt rocks and collectively placed them in a bowl of water on God’s altar. We witnessed the testimony of tears.

We gave God back our tears. We prayed for God to hear our cries, to hear our testimony and to transform our tears. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God is the potter and we are the clay. God uses our tears to wet the cracked clay vessels that we have become in our brokenness. Because of our tears, we can be restored and reformed. Without our tears, we would dry up and crack apart. God the potter works with our tears, integrating them back into our very being.

The testimony of tears makes possible our healing. No need to be ashamed or embarrassed of the tears. Let the tears flow…for in each tear holds the power of God made flesh. Divine love dwells in the tears. Tears, both hot and messy, are holy and designed for wholeness.

This is the testimony of tears. It is for the healing of children, women and Venus. It is for the healing of the nations.