I have long been puzzled by my tears. Not tears of pain or disappointment - those brought on by feeling sorry for myself. (An inner temper tantrum, perhaps?) But why am I often moved to tears at a wedding or by a song? Then my eyes well up and ... I get angry with myself: Why can't I control my emotions better? To me - growing up with the attitude expressed in the song "Big Girls Don't Cry" - such tears are a cause of embarrassment.
But my curiosity about tears has been piqued after reading that "the early [church] Fathers, both in the West and the East, like the Celtic monks, had much to say about tears, the gift of tears, the mystery of tears, but above all, the right and wrong tears. They saw them as a gift for which it was proper to pray and which, like all gifts, must be used properly. In the Celtic tradition people would ask that a well of tears spring up in their hearts, or that a stream would reach every part, flowing and becoming a cleansing for heart and body. A tenth-century Irish poem has the constant repetition of the plea 'Grant me tears'... " (Lost in Wonder, p. 104)
The ancients apparently took tears very seriously, while I view them as a sign of weakness!
(Hmmm. I need to learn more!)
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