Wednesday, June 24, 2015

PERMISSION TO CRY


Psalm 30:5 (NLT) Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

I come from the emotional side of my family where tears easily flow.  My grandfather would cry for everyone and everything.  He really cared about people. In jest, we always said that he could cry just by reading the label on a Peanut Butter jar.

Tears have always been part of my life.  God wired my heart to be sensitive to those around me and their needs.  My heart breaks over the hurting and broken and the injustices of life. Tears flow easily.  I could be doing a funeral for someone I don't really know and could up crying with the family.

It's not something I'm ashamed of and I don't feel any less of man because I cry.

Tears are the waters that cleanse, clear and refresh your soul’s path. It’s important in life. It’s part of the healing process in life. Old hurts, resentments, pain, and anger must be flushed out if we are to move toward health.

Our internal world affects us physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. As a result, tears can flow as a release for the pain we feel....

Tears are the lubricant of the eye. With every blink the eyelids sweep across the surface of the eyeball carrying away dust and harmful particles while evenly spreading the tears.

Tears contain lysozime, one of the most effective antibacterial/antiviral agents ever known. Those who have ever had eye infections know how important this is to comfort as well as eyesight.

Onions cause our eyes to tear up to neutralize the sulphuric acid in them which could cause severe damage.

Scientists have also discovered many benefits of crying.  Studies prove that tears shed by emotion remove harmful toxins from the body which are not affected by tears from an onion, for example.

Crying lowers the level of manganese in the body, a mineral which affects mood.  Crying also releases endorphins which lower stress levels and improve mood.

Crying is also effective communication, provoking sympathy from others in times of stress and sorrow.

All air-breathing animals produce tears but only humans can cry.

Crying is a good and positive thing and a healthy person’s response to emotional pain as well as a necessary part of the grieving process of life.

Your body detoxifies itself when you cry.  When you experience deep emotions - it can produce endorphins to actually relieve the pain we’re suffering.

I still, upon remembering a certain event or situation in my past, can have tears that come to the surface.

We think that something is wrong with us when we cry – we want to stop it  – cut it off – get over it – move on with life – etc.  When we do that, we are asking ourselves to not be human.  Crying as a response to sadness is actually a gift that we have because it is almost exclusively a human trait.

Crying helps us express the pain and what we don’t express, we will repress.  That repression may delay healing and interfere with adaptation of the loss, meaning making and continuing the bond with our loved ones who have died.

Crying also signals empathetic responses in others which can enable us to receive connection and comfort.  It is a way of asking for love and support without words.

Granted, whether alone or in the presence of a safe and trusted person, it is no picnic.  It hurts.  It’s messy.  It reveals our vulnerability.  For many of us, being that raw and vulnerable can be very difficult and can feel out of control, intimidating, uncomfortable and/or foreign.

Paradoxically, I see crying as a signal of strength.  I don’t like it either, but I get through it with the knowledge that on the other side is healing and growth.  For me, it is a small price to pay for love.

There are some cultures that look down on person who is crying.  Their response is that we need to stuff it down and move on.  That only delays the healing for further down the road.

I'm giving you permission to cry, to let it all out.  God loves you so much and he will make sure that you will get to the other side of that deep pain in your life.

Someday God will...

Revelation 21:4 (NLT) 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."

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