Aunt Clara was known to weep at the drop of a hat; out of her happiness and out of her sorrow. She was scorned by some but mostly admired for her soft and open heart. I loved the fact that her tears allowed us to truly know her.

These days some are inclined to scoff at the tears of another but many more are drawn to those who are able to freely express their feelings at both the blessings and the burdens of life. Clara was never ashamed of her tears. I wish I could feel the same.

My struggle at self-sufficiency crumbles from time to time and tears will come. I have progressed away from berating myself for my inability to “suck-it-up”, to a place of resignation to the inevitable downpour and allow myself this expression of pain and sometimes gladness. The Psalmist wrote, “God numbers my wanderings; put my tears in your bottle; are they not in your book? When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me.” (Psalm 56:8-9, NKJV) I guess God thinks tears are as important as Aunt Clara did. I’m sure He sees all of our tears and at times, sheds a few of His own at some of our choices.

Like Clara, I am learning that it’s a form of human release of emotion that is too large to contain, and to wonder whether tears need to be held back? When one is observed to be crying, the automatic response of some observors is, “Please, don’t cry. Please don’t be sad.”  Why do they say that? It would be unheard of to deny other emotional expressions. Can you imagine…”Please, don’t laugh. Please don’t be happy.” Denying another the expression of feelings or emotions is tantamount to denying their right to “be.”

Children seldom respond in the same way adults do. Children have fewer inhibitions about who they are and the expression of their needs. Perhaps this is the reason that children are a delight to be with; their openness and lack of self consciousness in many ways. Perhaps that’s why Jesus said, “You must become like a child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Is it that the heart of a child is purer than those of us who have knocked around the World for a time?

One day, the answers may all be clear but until then, it’s unlikely that I’ll be public about my teary episodes but I’m going to cut myself some slack and just allow that normal release to take place as needed. It seems to ultimately improve my outlook, not to mention my vision.