Tears are for Home

Tears are an enigmatic experience.

They're for the first meeting of little fingers and toes.

They're for the aisle-trodding lovers.

They're for full cars with empty passenger seats.

They're for long-suppressed memories.

Tears don't discriminate between the good and the bad. They just signify life. They notify the individual of a movement toward or away from home. And sometimes even we don't know which one it is. But I'm learning to thank Jesus for every tear that falls. For every moment he gives me to process and feel and reflect. What a gift I have been given, that I might shed tears in the name of clarity, as each one pushes me toward knowing Jesus better. Toward looking more like him.

Perhaps someone has told you that big boys and girls don't cry. But Jesus did. And I suggest that his response to your tears is not frustration, and it's certainly not a short-fused reaction pointed at your aching heart. He has described himself as gentle and lowly. The tears of your King stain the road of the path he walked to redeem you. So then, he is gentle, lowly, sacrificial, patient, and understanding with us. He knows about your happy tears. And he rejoices with you. He knows about your sad tears. And he weeps with you. And your tears that you can't quite place? He sits nearby. His presence is with you.

He's there for hellos.

He's there for goodbyes.

He's home.

And whether you're moving toward your earthly home or away from it, it seems to me that he is close at hand.

Tears are for life. They signify the moments that sanctify and redeem. They make us look more like Jesus, because Jesus wept too.

Tears are for Home.