Do angels cry? I really don't know. I had never thought about it before. But a few years ago, I was assisting my eldest daughter as she and her husband were preparing for a local move. As empty-nesters, they were going to try downsizing, with no yard to worry about, and see how they like it. She asked me if I would take her little weeping-angel garden ornament and keep it for her. She had become attached to it because in difficult moments she said she would look at her little angel and think, "Yeah that's how I feel today too." The minute she said that, I felt a sudden twinge of heartache. Do you know what I mean? It was a literal momentary ache that I felt deep inside. I know everyone has good days and bad days. But somehow, I did not want my daughter to hurt, not at all, not in the least, not ever.
So the little angel came home with me and now sits against a tree in a special spot in my backyard landscape. And every time I look at it, it reminds me of my daughter and her tears on her bad days. Most of us as moms can easily identify. We don't want our children to suffer, no matter what age they are. Even as adults, they never stop being our children.
As I thought about it, I wondered, if I can react with such emotion to the mere thought of one of my children being unhappy, how much more must our God of Compassion respond to each of us in our struggles and trials. Metaphorically speaking, I believe his heart aches for us when we suffer adversity. And the heart of God ached for real in the person of Jesus as he delivered and lifted up humanity from oppression and sorrow during his ministry on earth.
God figuratively catches our tears in his tear bottle and records them in his book according to King David in Ps. 56:8. So our tender, loving God "catches our tears" but doesn't always prevent them. As we journey through life, we will not be able to completely escape circumstances that bring us to tears.
For many years, I felt as though my heart was made of stone. It did not ache very easily. My experience from childhood in a rigid, legalistic religious environment shut my emotions down. I grew up thinking my pain, my sorrows and my tears were not valid because somehow I must have done something to bring my troubles on myself and the ensuing heartache was what I deserved.
The grace and forgiveness of our Lord Jesus have since allowed me to realize my tears do have value, whether pain comes from my own mistakes or not. In his book, Soul Making, by Alan Jones, he talks about the gift of tears and writes: "Real unhappiness is for those with dry eyes and a cold heart.... Weeping...softens the hardened and dried-out soul, making it receptive and alive. It clears the mind.... Tears falling on the soul will being it back to life."
Hardness of the human heart affects the lives of our families, neighbors, communities and nations. As difficult as it may seem at the time, there may be a need for the occasional thunderbolt, an event totally beyond our control that gives us the gift of tears to soften that hardness.
The little angel ornament shedding tears remains in place in my garden. And I know there will be moments when I also will look at it and think "Yeah, that's how I feel today too," as my daughter did. But that's OK. Tears keep us soft and supple in the hands of a loving God. And some day, when all is said and done, the Lamb at the center of the throne will wipe away every tear from our eyes forever (Rev. &:17).
