Lent: Tears Can Do Double Duty

William Blake said that tears are an “intellectual thing.” One might be inclined to take exception and say that tears are an emotional matter, not intellectual. Many can identify immediately with the psalmist who said, “My tears have been my food day and night” (42:3), which, we say, is an emotional reaction. But it is hardly intellectual since no ideas were developed, theses defended, or words and concepts defined.

I think Blake is on to something rather profound: when a Christian weeps at the death of someone dear, the tears are, to be sure, emotional expressions. But they are more. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ we stand before a grave, helpless but not hopeless. Tears are tied to that paradox. A tear does double duty: it mourns the loss of someone dear and it recalls the promise of new life. As St. Paul said, we grieve but not as those who have no hope. So we grieve and recall a promise. The same tears have two aspects - sorrow and hope, leaving and anticipation.

What I have just described is highly intellectual. In the midst of sorrow the Christian knows loss and promise and the tears shed in recognition are not half and half. They are full of sorrow and fully rely on the promise. So while no ideas are developed, theses defended, or concepts defined, the tears nevertheless are rooted in a deeply intellectual matter: while living in death one lives by promise. One tear both grieves and relies, and to some extent, rejoices in the promise of God.

-John Weborg